Band Of Horses

This South Carolina-based indie-rock band’s swirling, dreampop-like musical backing, ragged Neil Young influences and tenor vocals initially drew comparisons to fellow Southern-based indie rockers My Morning Jacket.

Multi-instrumentalists Ben Bridwell and Mat Brooke formed the group in Seattle in 2004 after their slow-core band Carissa’s Wierd broke up due to mounting financial problems. After releasing the Tour EP to glowing reviews, Band of Horses signed with indie label Sub Pop and recorded Everything All the Time, which gained surprising mainstream attention when its song “The Funeral” appeared in television shows, commercials and video games.

Brooke left the band shortly after the album’s release to form the band Grand Archives. Bridwell with the lineup of Rob Hampton on bass and Creighton Barrett on drums moved Band of Horses to his native South Carolina. They recorded the fuller-sounding Cease to Begin at a studio in nearby Asheville, North Carolina. The disc topped Billboard’s independent album chart and reached Number 35 on the Billboard 200, spawning the Modern Rock hit “Is There a Ghost” (Number 34).

Band of Horses celebrate the release of their third album, Infinite Arms this May. Lead by singles Compliments and Laredo, there has been a video made to accompany each track on the album. Infinite Arms is streaming now from the band’s website.