The Lone Bellow, Robert Ellis
Stoughton Opera House 381 E. Main St., Stoughton, Wisconsin 53589
Shervin Lainez
The Lone Bellow
press release: For the first time ever, The Lone Bellow will play as just the trio with no backing band - riffing on a wildly popular portion of their live show where the three gather around one microphone.The Restless EP is out now and features two new songs, two covers, and three reworked versions of songs from previous records. Produced by members Brian Elmquist and Jason Pipkin.
"It all started with the idea of the TRIIIO one mic tour," said Zach Williams. "Since we released our first album in 2013, we've been setting a few songs aside every night to sing together around one mic, and those times have become some of our most memorable musical moments of touring together. The responses to those acoustic sets have been so powerful, that we decided to put together an entire tour all around that one microphone. In the spirit of our upcoming TRIIIO tour, we were prompted to make a record that would capture that feeling, and to make it ourselves. We had never done that before. We ended up making it in Jason and Kanene's attic along with all the natural sounds of that space: floors creaking, birds chirping, babies crying, lawnmowers running. It was a joy to make."
The Lone Bellow's third studio album, Walk Into A Storm was released last year on Descendant Records/Sony Music Masterworks. The album was produced by Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell) and recorded in Nashville, Tennessee. Entertainment Weekly said it's "full of upbeat, irresistible grooves." And NPR declared that it "leans heavily into the rootsy, big-hearted warmth that's made The Lone Bellow one of the most sure-footed crowd-pleasers in the business."
Praise For The Lone Bellow | Walk Into A Storm
"If there's a secret to the warm, wide-open sound of The Lone Bellow, it lies in absolute sincerity and commitment ... Zach Williams, Kanene Donehey Pipkin and Brian Elmquist perform with openhearted, vein-bursting conviction." - NPR
"There's no lack of sonic drama, and even in the most sorrowful circumstance, the material is delivered in full flight" - Paste
"a sort of musical holler in favor of catharsis... reaching the rafters with a room of sound that could be almost borderline too earnest if you didn't have the stomach for sincerity over sarcasm or snark." - The Bluegrass Situation
"tracks that seem crafted for maximum participation in the live experience."
- American Songwriter
"tension between subject matter and musical backings exists all across Storm... The results crackle." - Entertainment Weekly
"Walk Into A Storm captures the urgency of existence with melodies and hooks that are impossible to shake." - Substream Magazine
Williams pushes his voice to new levels of exhortation" - NPR World Cafe
"offering a more raw and stripped-back sound from The Lone Bellow.... the album is lyric-focused in the most poetic way possible." - DuJour Magazine
"Mellow and sweet at times, lightning quick and powerful a song later"
- No Country For New Nashville
"you can hear that clean and crisp Cobb sound that lets the music speak for itself with minimal fussiness." - Popmatters