Photo Credit: Francis A. Wiley and Sanja Lukac
Those feisty folks at Sugar Hill Records have an ear for great music and the willingness to go anywhere to find it, even if it means traveling to the frozen zones of Saskatoon.
That’s where they found the wonderful band called the Deep Dark Woods.
A quintet consisting of singer Ryan Boldt, guitarist Burke Barlow and organ player Geoff Hilhorst built around the rhythm section of singer/bassist and drummer and multi-instrumentalist Lucas Goetz, the Deep Dark Woods have been turning heads since they turned out their first album, Winter Hours, in 2009.
“The Deep Dark Woods frame their music with subtle orchestration,” they say in the biography. “(Their) songs are trimmed with minimal embellishments of banjo, piano, with subtle mellotron flutters” all with the goal of achieving a “balance grit, clarity, drive and restraint with a sure focus on experimentation.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves as we listen to “West Side Street” from their newest album, The Place I Left Behind.
Though it’s a gloomy narrative, there’s little room for bring despondent: The Deep Dark Woods spin exquisite harmonies from a gently rolling melody that pushes aside every other melody you’ve heard for the past 24 hours. With every listen, the song sinks deeper and deeper into your psyche, warming and througouhgly satisfying.
The Deep Dark Woods kick off a tour today in support of Robert Earl Keen.
11/02/11 Chattanooga, TN at Track 29
11/03/11 Nashville, TN at Ryman Auditorium
11/04/11 Newberry, SC at Newberry Opera House
11/05/11 Winston-Salem, NC at Ziggy’s
11/06/11 Athens, GA at Georgia Theatre
11/08/11 Asheville, NC at Orange Peel
11/09/11 Mobile, AL at Saenger Theatre
11/10/11 Macon, GA at The 567 Center
11/12/11 Orlando, FL at Orlando Calling
