The Horse's Ha was formed in 2002, when British ex-patriot
James Elkington and just South of the Mason Dixon ex-patriot,
Janet Beveridge Bean, met at a Chicago concert and started discussing the concept of playing other people's songs in expensive wine bars for money. A set-list of roughly 20 standards was drawn up and then gradually abandoned over the course of a year as
James started to write original songs for
Janet to sing. They soon joined forces with some stellar Chicago musicians to create a sophisticated and compelling musical hybrid, infused with echoes of the English folk revival, lulling bossa nova rhythms and pure pop, giving the
The Horse’s Ha a uniquely enduring edge.
The band’s lineage has deep Chicago roots.
Janet Beveridge Bean is a member
Eleventh Dream Day and
Freakwater.
James Elkington was leader of
The Zincs and performs solo.
The Horse's Ha's cellist,
Fred Lonberg-Holm, has worked on recordings by
Wilco,
Jim O'Rourke and countless others while richly contributing to the vibrant improvisational jazz scene in Chicago. His masterful playing is underpinned by the rhythm section of bass player
Nick Macri (
Mark Eitzel, Jeremy Enigk) and jazz drummer
Charles Rumback who performs with his own band
Leaves as well as Chicago groups
L'Altra and
Via Tania. Their debut album,
Of The Cathmawr Yards, was recorded and mixed by
Griffin Rodriguez (who has recorded albums by
Beirut and
Akron/Family as
Blue Hawaii) at Shape Shoppe in Chicago, with additional recording by
Mark Greenberg (
The Coctails) at his studio, Mayfair.
“The Cathmawr Yards” is the name of a fictitious graveyard in Wales and is the setting for the Dylan Thomas short story about zombies, entitled “The Horse's Ha." Although no reference to Thomas or the story are made in the songs on
Of The Cathmawr Yards, the lyrics themselves resonate with similarly dark and fantastical themes. Talking woodcuts, walking skeletons, grave-digging divas, modern-day witches offering friendly warnings, and at least 11 references to the moon merge together to form an unsettling yet familiar feeling that forces other than our own are at work in the physical world.
The Horse's Ha, driven by
Bean's swooning voice,
Elkington's finger-picked acoustic guitar,
Lonberg-Holm's inspired cello playing and the artful rhythm section of
Macri and
Rumback, reconcile the new and old to form a unified debut that is
Of the Cathmawr Yards. Hidden Agenda will release the album in CD form and as a download on June 9, 2009 and on vinyl in the preceding weeks.
Tracklisting
1. Plumb
2. Asleep In A Waterfall
3. Wilds Empty Bedroom
4. Left Hand
5. Liberation
6. The Piss Choir
7. Heiress
8. Tea Creek In The Dunes
9. Rising Moon
10. Map of Stars
“Elements of [Bean's] other bands can be heard here . . . and the influences she cites (Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, Dusty Springfield's Dusty in Memphis) make their presence felt too. But Bean's album reveals a personal vision, and it expands the horizons of American roots music with an assurance and craftsmanship on par with the best of her groups' work.” -- Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader
“Crafting a woozy, weepy sound that borrows liberally from the Carter Family school of back-porch country gothic, Freakwater write laments that have the ring of timelessness. . . Catherine Ann Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean's close-knit harmonies conjure up a world where Jesus and the devil drink from the same whiskey bottle.” -- Marc Weingarten, Entertainment Weekly
“The Zincs are dark prince of droll James Elkington, he of the playboy-in-a-coma baritone, and a handful of Chicago indie rock veterans. Their Black Pompadour is a record of arch, lush songs in which the musicianship is as intricate and arresting as the lyrics.”-- Carlene Bauer, ELLE
“At their best – pretty much all of Black Pompadour qualifies – The Zincs sound like an accomplished friend, sharing skill and knowledge without being pretentious about it. . . its hard not to be grateful that talented musicians still want to make records like this for the handful of people who still want to hear them.” -- Noel Murray, The Onion’s A.V. Club
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THE HORSE'S HA DEBUT ALBUM OUT JUNE 9TH 09
AN HORSE'S REARRANGE BEDS IN STORES MARCH 17, 2009