WOVENHAND
A few months ago I received an email from the US booking agent for the band WOVENHAND. He asked me if White Hills was interested in being the support act for the band’s upcoming fall US tour. At the time I had heard very little of Wovenhand’s music…just the songs they had up on their myspace page. The only other things I knew was that two members came from the band 16 Horsepower and that my friends in the band Silver Summit had done a number of west coast dates with them 6 months earlier….of which they had nothing but good things to say about them. So after a quick discussion with Ego Sensation we decided to jump at the opportunity…and I am so glad we did!
After watching WOVENHAND night after night, I was so taken by them that for this month’s On The Decks…I choose to focus on a band verses an album in particular.
WOVENHAND’s sound is dark and intense…it’s a mixture of folk, swamp sludge, goth, and all out heavy rock. It is music that is inspiring and chilling…heady and lofty…dark and bright. They create cinematic sound scapes and tell tales of death and damnation… salvation and sin. The first Wovenhand album sounds like an extension of 16 Horsepower…with each new album the band moves further away from the acoustic sound that drove 16 Horsepower into a darker and heavier electric sound.
David Eugene Edwards (guitarist & vocalist) is an enigmatic character on stage. Performing on a drum stool, he is mesmerizing, commanding the audiences attention from beginning to end. Playing in open tunings his sound is enveloping…as if the sound that emanates from his guitar is a blanket encompassing you. Pascal Humbert (bass) lays down a heavy sound that grounds everything to the earth. His licks are tasteful and spot on…allowing the guitar and vocals to float in the heavens above. Ordy Garrison (drums) keeps it all together. I have never heard so much sound come out of a drummer using brushes of bundled sticks before. The man is a powerhouse.
Since returning home from the tour, I have had Mosaic and Ten Stones in constant rotation. Both albums are hypnotic, entrancing and moody. These two also spotlight the heavier side of the band’s sound. I cannot recommend these two releases enough.
WOVENHAND can be found on the web at http://www.myspace.com/wovenhand
DISCOGRAPHY
Blush Music - 2003
Woven Hand - 2003
Consider The Birds - 2004
Mosaic - 2006
Ten Stones - 2008
Thanks
Dave W (White Hills)
