It’s Nashville’s genre-twisted BOY NAMED BANJO. These guys have supported huge country names from Hank Williams to Old Crow Medicine Show. BROTHER ELSEY opens it up with some riveting alt country.
BOY NAMED BANJO
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In the decade since their stripped-down 2012 debut, The Tanglewood Sessions, brought them to Bonnaroo, Boy Named Banjo have taken Nashville and beyond by storm with a series of critically acclaimed, genre-bending releases that have earned performances everywhere from the Ryman to the Grand Ole Opry alongside dates supporting the likes of Kip Moore, Hank Williams, Jr., Old Crow Medicine Show, and the Cadillac Three.
On their latest album, Dusk, Boy Named Banjo explored the full sonic and emotional spectrum of their rich, eclectic sound, from late-night, feel-good anthems to stripped-down, introspective meditations on loneliness, loss, and letting go. While the band explored genres and flexed their range on Dusk, they have been working on a new body of music that marks a full-circle return to their Americana and bluegrass roots. “In the ten-plus years we’ve been together, we’ve explored many different sounds,” says banjoist and vocalist Barton Davies, “but the one we keep coming back to is that folky, acoustic sound that inspired us to pick up our instruments in the first place.” The group’s new music is slated for release in 2024.
BROTHER ELSEY
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There’s something unique in Brother Elsey DNA. Comprised of siblings Brady (vocals and guitar), Beau (bass), and Jack Stablein (lead guitar), plus honorary kin Dalton Thomas (drums), these sons of Detroit have spent their lives working together to create a blueprint of musical connection, using sharp songcraft, a celestial-roots sound, and pure Midwestern grit to suss out common truths of the human condition. Freely mixing rock, folk, and country in ways both grounded and atmospheric, rugged yet serene, the quartet are now signed to Nashville’s River House Artists, and it’s time to reveal their family secrets. Named for the Stablein brothers’ great-grandfather, early gigs in high school led to Dalton joining in college, and a whirlwind of hard-earned grassroots growth. Along with a series of self-written and self-produced singles and EPs, a heavy self-booked tour scheduled culminated in tours alongside major acts like alt-rock icons The Wallflowers, Allen Stone, the War and Treaty, and Young the Giant, plus the transcendent 2021 EP debut, You Don’t Know Anything. After relocating to Nashville and expanding their road-warrior reputation, a new chapter now begins, fusing their unconventional sound with a knack for tapping the common well of humanist spirit. Featuring lofty soundscapes, husky-but-piercing vocals, blood harmonies, and down-to-earth craftsmanship, Brother Elsey’s new material both explores the emotions that guide (and restrict) modern life, and sharpens their unique brand of ethereal folk rock. Produced by Drew Long and recorded at East Nashville’s Ivy Hall, tracks like the cinematic “Passing Through” meet with patient observations (“Babylon”) and pent-up nervous energy (“Red Tape”), as the family band emerge on the national scene. Featured at the 2023 Americana Music Festival and beyond, Brother Elsey will also star in the film Dandelion (set to debut at SXSW 2024), and plan to tour with both Boy Named Banjo and SUSTO in the coming year.
