broken mic

 The Low Anthem is a folk-rock band from Providence, Rhode Island, consisting of Ben Knox Miller, Jeff Prystowsky and Jocie Adams. The three classically trained musicians used twenty-seven different instruments on their latest album, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin. Aside from the standard guitar, bass and drum setup, they also used several instruments from both the horn and string families, as well as a pump organ that was carried onto the battlefield by chaplains during WWI.

 The story of The Low Anthem begins in 2002 at Brown University, where Ben and Jeff met working as late night DJ’s for the college’s radio station, WBRU. Ben, a folk musician and painter from New York’s Hudson Valley, and Jeff, a jazz bassist and baseball scholar from New Jersey are the band’s two core members. Before forming The Low Anthem, they played in a number of ensembles, ranging from rock, to electronica, to classical, to Americana.

I asked Ben about his experience at Brown and how, as an artist, the songwriting and painting processes are different. How do you know what thoughts and feelings to use in a song versus a painting:

“Well, we all have different feelings about Brown. I was recklessly bored there. I couldn’t get interested in anything that had to do with school. For me, it was four growthless years hanging out with kind, wealthy, whip-smart alcoholics. Fun stuff. However, some folks get a lot of it. I love painting. But like Woody says, people will pay you to play a song and they’ll whoop and holler and sing along and then you can do it again the next night. A painting, you do once, and it’ll bother the rest of your life.”

In 2006, the duo became a trio with the addition of Dan Lefkowitz, a bluesman from Virginia. Although he was only with the band a mere six months, his song “This God Damn House” was kept in the band’s repertoire. I asked Ben to share some thoughts about Dan and how the band was different when he played with them:

“Very different. Dan used to sing lead on one in three songs. He has this killer voice, gravely and cynical. I love that guy. He’s off in Arkansas now living in a yurt, but one of these days I hope he’ll put some music out.”

In November of 2007, former NASA technician, Jocie Adams, joined the band. A student of astrophysics and great clarinet player, Jocie was often invited up onstage to perform with Ben and Jeff. Starting out with the song, “Coal Mountain Lullaby”, from What The Crow Brings, she would sit in until she eventually knew all the songs and would become an official member, thus, making them a trio again.

I asked Ben about being a trio again and what Jocie brings to the table:

“Jocie is a good musician. She can play most instruments and she didn’t have a day job. She sings like a drunken angel. She makes us look taller on stage. Plus, the triangle is the most stable energy structure. A duo is wasteful. In terms of dynamism and feng shui, the trio is better. We’re thinking of expanding again.”

I was recently listening to a podcast of the World Cafe with David Dye, in which the guests were The Low Anthem. During that session, Ben had called the Charlie Darwin album “a gospel record for scientists and social philosophers.” I asked him to expand on that thought and about the title of the album:

“Well, I used to believe what I told David. Maybe I still do. The record longs for community, I think. And yet the principles that guide and govern have been shot dead, the sacred documents torched and twisted. I wish good luck to the holy and the sincere. Good luck dealing with the son of a bitch.”

Although the album came out in September of 2008, it saw a major label re-release in June of 2009 on Nonesuch. The album is still receiving rave reviews, has been included on a number of “Best of” lists, and the critic’s are saying things like “one of the best of 2008″ and “the next big thing in folk music.”

On paper it would appear that this is a band who fits comfortably right alongside legendary artists like Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, and the new breed of indie-folk bands like Fleet Foxes and The Felice Brothers. Although there is no doubt some influence of Waits, Darwin and even author/writer, Jack Kerouac, The Low Anthem are creating folk, blues and gospel music that sits in a category all its own. Part of that has to do with the diverse use of musical instruments and the way in which the album was recorded. I asked Ben about the instruments and if they had any help with laying down tracks:

“Anna Williams played the beautiful violin that you’ll hear on the reprise of “To Ohio.” She and Cameron Orr scratched along on “The Horizon Is A Beltway.” BUT the most significant contribution was from my best pal Graham Smith. He’d been up for 72 hours on adderall and red bull trying to finish a final project for his architecture school. He took a subway ride to Williamsburg where we were overdubbing at the engineer’s place to lay down the Tibetan singing bowl. It’s not that nobody else could have played it, but we wanted his spirit on the record. It took two takes. He fell asleep both times while the tape was rolling and we cut it together. Later that morning he woke up standing in a Chelsea subway station and doesn’t remember beating 200 in skiball after the session. He won a free beer, and didn’t tip on it, which he was horrified to learn.”

To record the album, the band (along with some friends) went out to Block Island on New Year’s Day, 2008. An island sitting thirteen miles off the coast of Rhode Island, it’s a popular tourist destination in the summer, with its bicycling, hiking, sailing, fishing and beaches. You can probably assume that this place doesn’t sound like much in winter, which Ben notes was very “isolated and empty.” He also mentions that “you feel it on the album.” 

The Low Anthem have spent much of the year touring with artists like Ray LaMontagne, Josh Ritter, Elvis Perkins, Langhorne Slim and Joe Pug, and hitting the big festivals like SXSW, Coachella, Bonnaroo, and more recently, the Newport Folk Festival and Lollapalooza. The Low Anthem come to Newport’s Historic Southgate House on Monday, August 10 with Langhorne Slim.