Words that in their everyday
surrealism have no parallel in contemporary writing...Music that mines
the deep veins of fatalism in the Appalachian voice — GREIL
MARCUS
As songwriters it's the eerie,
ancestral voice of ‘Anonymous’ they ultimately resemble the most
—THE CHICAGO READER
This is music that moves forward by
turning the clock back— haunting, primal and strangely heroic
—THE LONDON TIMES
Dark, elemental, mischievous and
mournful —MOJO
Taking place under bowed branches and deep within winding corn mazes,
The Handsome Family's latest release, "Honey Moon" is full of an awed
sense of
emotion in the face of nature's mysteries,
Brett Sparks (music) and Rennie Sparks (lyrics) branched from their
usual canon
of the dark and mysterious on "Honey Moon", to establish a theme rooted
in
the tradition of 19th-century romanticism. It is an album of
transcendence, of touching the divine, if only for a moment, through
our love of someone else, even if he is a katydid. The record's release
(their eighth) coincided with the Sparks' twentieth year of marriage.
The twosome's seventh CD, "Last Days of Wonder" (June 2006), was one of
Mojo's Top Ten American Albums for 2006 and was called "an unqualified
triumph" by Uncut. Their fourth album, "In the Air" was recently listed
as one
of the essential records of the first decade of the 21st century by
Uncut. In 2004, a reader's poll in Mojo named The Handsome Family's
third CD, "Through the Trees" one of the ten essential Americana
records.
UK national newspaper, "The Guardian" listed their song "Weightless
Again" as one of the 100 essential songs about Heartbreak.
Their songs have been covered by many artists, most notably:
Andrew Bird, Christy Moore, The Sadies, Sally Timms and Cerys Matthews.
They have appeared in the movie, I’m
Your Man (2005), a tribute to Leonard Cohen as well as Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus
(2004). The Handsome Family record all their songs in a converted
garage
studio at the back of their Albuquerque house.
In their live
performances the band is sometimes up to a six-piece band
and sometimes just Brett and Rennie playing guitar and banjo. They have
toured extensively
throughout the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. A recent
live review (by Mike Ritchie) noted, "There’s a lot of smiling at this
gig, on and off stage. That might surprise many people who have only
read about the duo’s penchant for songs riddled with darkness, death
and the macabre. But Rennie Sparks and her husband, Brett are funny
live...through their chit-chat, the song introductions and the banter
with the audience...This sell-out show, part of the excellent Glasgow
Americana Festival, was a knockabout celebration of the deadpan, a real
joy... Rennie’s words plus Brett’s music and strong, mellow vocals
create a magical potion of grim fairytales in a rock and blues pot with
grinning unavoidable."
USA:
Green Light Go Publicity
National: Janelle Rogers
Jrogers@greenlightgopublicity.com
Tour: Heather Wisniewski
Heather@greenlightgopublicity.com
EUROPE:
Loose Records
mark@loosemusic.com
CDs
Honey Moon, Carrot Top Records, USA; Loose, Europe
(minus Benelux and Ireland); Independent Records, Ireland; Bertus
(Benelux); Spunk!, Australia, New Zealand, Mint, Canada
Last Days of Wonder, Carrot Top Records, USA; Loose, Europe
(minus Benelux and Ireland); Independent Records, Ireland; Bertus
(Benelux); Spunk!, Australia, New Zealand, 6/06
Singing Bones, Carrot Top Records, USA; Loose, Europe
(minus Benelux and Ireland); Independent Records, Ireland; Bertus
(Benelux); Spunk!, Australia, New Zealand, 10/03.
Live at Schuba's, Digital Club Network, 9/02
Smothered and Covered, self-released 7/02
Twilight, CD, Carrot Top Records, USA; Loose, England;
Independent Records, Ireland; Trocadero, Europe. 9/01.
In the Air, CD, Carrot Top Records, USA; Loose, England;
Independent Records, Ireland; Trocadero, Europe. 2/00.
Down in the Valley, An anthology of past CDs, Independent
Records, Europe, 11/99.
Through the Trees, CD, Carrot Top Records, 1/98, USA;
Loose, 3/98, Europe.
Milk and Scissors, CD, Carrot Top Records, USA; Scout,
5 /96, Europe.
Odessa, CD, Carrot Top Records, USA; 2/95; Scout, 5
/96, Europe.
SONGS COVERED BY OTHER ARTISTS
“The Giant of Illinois” covered by Andrew Bird for 2009 Red, Hot and Blue Compilation
“So Much Wine” and “Peace in the Valley Again” covered by Christy
Moore on his cd, Burning Times (2005)
"Weightless Again" covered by Cerys Matthew's on Cockahoop, 2003
"Don't Be Scared" on Andrew Bird's Weather Systems,
2003
"Milk and Scissors" by The Sadies, on Down to the Promised Land, 2000
"The Sad Milkman" and "The Snowbird,"
Sally Timms, Bloodshot Records, Twilight Laments for Lost
Buckeroos, 11/99
"Drunk By Noon," Sally Timms, Cowboy Sally,
Bloodshot Records, 3/97
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