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Bloodstained hands on guitar strings.
The Western States is dead. Long live Battle Hymns! After drifting around Washington under a handful of aliases, Cameron Elliott formed The Western States in 2002 in Seattle, WA. Aided by an ever rotating cast of characters, The Western States recorded their acclaimed debut Trouble in the Union, which was co-produced by David Bazan (Pedro the Lion, Headphones). Soon thereafter the band found themselves on the road supporting Damien Jurado, Pedro The Lion, Richard Buckner, and Tilly & the Wall, and sharing local stages with Band of Horses, Okkervil River, Asobi Seksu, and many more. However, having outgrown the confines of their former moniker, The Western States were laid to waste and Battle Hymns was born.
Battle Hymns, comprised of Cameron Elliott and Jack Peters, draw from the same songwriting wells as Tom Petty, David Berman and Bill Callahan, while simultaneously dredging the darker, noisier depths of rock and roll. Hidden Reservations, their first endeavor, explores how those things we keep buried beneath the surface inevitably effect our lives and community. Recorded over the course of a year in various houses, a work garage, and the world renowned Studio X, it was tracked with help from friends Nick Peterson (Pedro the Lion, Headphones, Fleet Foxes), Andrew Rudd (Aqueduct), Justin Wilmore (The Prom, Aqueduct), and engineered by Kory Kruckenburg. Hidden Reservations captures the sound of a country crumbling under its own weight; offering protest against apathy and hopelessness, sung for those not quite ready to succumb. It chronicles a band reaching toward something bigger then itself, maybe even beyond itself, but still striving nonetheless. In the process, Battle Hymns have created an album worth believing in, long after the tyranny of style has changed its fickle mind.
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