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A longtime favorite of critics and fans, but a pigeonholer's nightmare, The Horse Flies blend Americana roots with indie rock, ethnic percussion, creative songwriting, and a fierce, percolating groove. With a love of both the traditional and the modern, The Flies have consistently explored the intersection of the two to create a musical world all their own. Part trance-inducing minimalism, achieved through a neo-primitive approach to fiddle music, and part folk-rock American gothic, achieved through emotive singing and haunting, original songs, The Flies’ music is recognized for its intensity, quirkiness, poetry, and skill.
In 2008 The Horse Flies released Until the Ocean, their first new album in a number of years. It’s received positive attention throughout the U.S. and internationally. Influential radio station KCRW, in Los Angeles, featured the album as a top new release and chose the song “14 Reasons” as a “Top Tune,” an honor given recently to such artists as Aimee Mann, Neko Case, Fleet Foxes, Damian Rice, and Jamie Lidell.
Critics have said:
“A band that's earned a buzz ... The Horse Flies churn out swirling, addictive songs, blending tradition with invention.” (Rolling Stone)
"Brilliantly peculiar ... new music with gnarled and twisted roots." (The Boston Herald)
“ ... a world without the Horse Flies' wholly unique music would be a much, much poorer place.” (Melody Maker, London)
"The Horse Flies combine musical and lyrical quirkiness with beguiling wit and intelligence … a melange of rock, folk, and minimalism … music that challenges the brain without sacrificing the groove." (Chicago Tribune)
"Music of astonishing centrifugal force ... breathtakingly complex rhythms ... unexpectedly rich textures ... stunningly modern ... gravity and grace ... their ancient, yet modern sound and their easy, seemingly limitless energy make The Horse Flies special." (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
"The textures are a blend of the ancient and the ultra modern. Realism coexists with surrealism, and synthetics and acoustics are interwoven. A record of dark brilliance." (Melody Maker, London)
"Demented, post-modern mountain music..." (Village Voice, New York).
"The Horse Flies have figured out how to hold a hoedown in a physics lab." (New York Times)
"Bewitching and beguiling ...a band for our trying times." (The Dallas Observer)
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The Horseflies have released seven previous albums: "Gravity Dance" (MCA), "Human Fly" (Rounder/MCA), In the Dance Tent (Live and Kicking), Two Traditions (Callin' the Kettle Black), "Chokers and Flies" (Rounder), "Where the Rivers Flow North" (score for the film of that name, on Alcazar Records), and "A Stranger in the Kingdom" (another film score), and they've appeared on a number of compilation recordings. Both "Human Fly" and "Gravity Dance" reached the top 40 on the Gavin and College Music Journal charts. “Gravity Dance” was nominated for a New York Award.
The band has been written about in major publications such as Rolling Stone, Musician Magazine, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, New Musical Express (London), Melody Maker (London) …
They have performed throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe at major venues such as the Central Park Summerstage (NYC, U.S.), WOMAD (Toronto, Canada), Big Beat Festival (Vienna, Austria), Vancouver Folk Festival (Vancouver, Canada), Winnipeg Folk Festival (Winnipeg, Canada), Birmingham City Stages (Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.), Independence Days (Berlin, Germany), Philadelphia Folk Festival (Philadelphia, PA, U.S.), Tonder Festival (Denmark), and the Telluride Festival (Colorado, U.S.). They have also appeared numerous times on national radio and television programs including MTV News, MTV’s Week in Rock, Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, The Entertainers, and many more.
During the summers of 2000 and 2004, Judy Hyman and Richie Stearns joined pop singer Natalie Merchant’s band. An album of the music from those tours titled, "The House Carpenter's Daughter," was released in September 2003. The album's lead cut, "Sally Ann", is a song by Jeff Claus, which Natalie’s band performed on Late Night with David Letterman in August 2004 and which also appears on Ms. Merchant’s "Retrospective" album. Hyman and Stearns recorded again with Merchant, in mid-August, 2008, for an upcoming release.
The Horse Flies are: Judy Hyman (violin, vocals), Jeff Claus (guitar, banjo uke, vocals), Rich Stearns (banjo, vocals), Taki Masuko (percussion), Jay Olsa (bass) and Rick Hansen (accordion, organ, Moog).
Contact:
info@thehorseflies.com | land: 607.277.7025 | cell: 607.220.4043
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