While The Low Anthem has been busy prepping its next album, documenting it all on video, Magnet magazine named its Nonesuch debut, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, the 2009 Album of the Year, "a thrilling, romantic journey through Americana at its absolute finest." This month, the band begins its WOXY radio show and a European tour; its later US tour with the Avett Brothers has already begun to sell out.
When last we heard from The Low Anthem in the Nonesuch Journal in late December, the band's Ben Knox Miller was reflecting on the monumental year that had just passed and looking forward to another banner year ahead with a recording space secured for the next album, in an abandoned pasta sauce factory, and a new band member, Mat Davidson, introduced. The band has since been posting regular video updates from behind the scenes at the recording space, which you'll find at lowanthem.com/band.
But before there's more news on that front, there was an additional accolade for the band's 2009 Nonesuch debut, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, that's come in since the holidays. In addition to the previously published year's best lists on which the album appeared, including those of The Independent, Boston Herald, Q, Mojo, Music OMH, Paste, and Uncut, it has now been named Album of the Year by Magnet magazine.
The album "traverses both land and emotion with the same poetry and fervor of On the Road," says the magazine, after alluding to its Kerouac-esque origins. "Treading comfortable folk territory from gentle acoustic strumming to foot-stomping hoedowns, OMGCD is a thrilling, romantic journey through Americana at its absolute finest."
Read more and see Magnet's Top 20 Albums of 2009 at magnetmagazine.com.
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And now that 2010 has arrived, there's much in store for The Low Anthem in the coming days. The band's is set to begin its weekly radio show on Oxford, Ohio's WOXY, 97.7 FM and woxy.com, starting Sunday January 31, at 10 AM ET, picking up where Ben and band mate Jeff Prystowsky left off on their show on college radio back at Brown University.
"It'll be fun to revisit," says Ben. "We're calling it Trala-Lala Radio Hour and here's the idea: we're going to tape our shows from the tour van or wherever we may be traveling. Every week will feature a different theme based on God knows what and we'll have 'in studio' performances from guest artists if we can find any musicians who are cool enough to record live in a Ford Econoline."
For more information, visit woxy.com.
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The Econoline will soon be put to good use when the band takes to the road again. They've got a three-week tour of Europe starting at the end of the month, with tickets going fast, and a much-anticipated tour with the Avett Brothers back in the States beginning in late February. Some of those tour dates have already sold out.
Even before all that begins, there's a stop close to home at the House of Blues Boston this Saturday for the Hot Stove Cool Music Concert, a benefit event for the Red Sox Foundation's Foundation to Be Named Later, followed by a performance with trumpeter Dave Douglas for the the Festival of New Trumpet Music at New York City's Abrons Art Center.
For all the tour dates and links to purchase tickets, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
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