Balmorhea (band) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Balmorhea is a minimalist instrumental ensemble from Austin

Austin

Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

that was formed in 2006 by Rob Lowe and Michael Muller. Balmorhea were influenced by Ludovico Einaudi

Ludovico Einaudi

Ludovico Einaudi OMRI is an Italian contemporary music composer and pianist.-Biography:Born in Turin, Italy, Einaudi's mother played to him on the piano as a child. He began his musical training at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, gaining a diploma in composition in 1982...

, The Six Parts Seven

The Six Parts Seven

The Six Parts Seven was an American post-rock band formerly based in Kent, Ohio. The band was founded in 1995 by brothers Allen and Jay Karpinski , who had earlier played with Old Hearts Club, a band of similar style...

, Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy

Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...

, Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...

, Rachel's

Rachel's

Rachel's is an American chamber music group that formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1991. Former Rodan guitarist, Jason Noble, played music individually and referred to himself as Rachel's but then began collaborating with now core members, violist Christian Frederickson, and pianist Rachel Grimes...

, Gillian Welch

Gillian Welch

Gillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely...

, Max Richter

Max Richter (Composer)

Max Richter is a German-born British composer.-Biography:Richter studied composition and piano at University of Edinburgh, the Royal Academy of Music and with Luciano Berio in Florence. After finishing his studies, Richter co-founded the contemporary classical ensemble Piano Circus...

, Arvo Pärt

Arvo Pärt

Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...

and John Cage

John Cage

John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...

.

The band self-released their first album, self-titled Balmorhea, in April 2007, and their second album Rivers Arms in February 2008, and released a limited EP in the fall of 2008. The group released their third full-length album, All is Wild, All is Silent on Western Vinyl Records. Their fourth full-length album, Constellations, was released in February 2010 on Western Vinyl. Balmorhea has toured the US three times, their latest with Japanese post-rock band Mono

Mono (Japanese band)

Mono are a Japanese post rock band, formed in 1999 in Tokyo, Kantō, Honshū. The band consists of Takaakira Goto , Yoda , Tamaki Kunishi , and Yasunori Takada .Mono have released five studio albums...

, and began their fourth European tour in Fall 2010.

They also played the Austin City Limits Festival in October 2010 and were called "a classy, perfectly played way to ease into the ACL Fest’s second day." The band is currently touring to promote their latest album.

Members

Rob Lowe — guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

, melodica
Melodica
The melodica, also known as the "blow-organ" or "key-flute", is a free-reed instrument similar to the melodeon and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key opens a hole,...

, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
Michael Muller — guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
Aisha Burns — violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
Dylan Rieck — cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Travis Chapman — double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
Kendall Clark — drums

Discography

Balmorhea (2007)
Rivers Arms
Rivers Arms
-Personnel:* Aisha Burns – violin * Erin Lance – cello * Jacob Glenn-Levin – guitar, bass * Carl Saff – mastering...

(2008)
Tour EP (2008)
All is Wild, All is Silent
All is Wild, All is Silent
-Personnel:* Aisha Burns – violin* Travis Chapman – upright bass* Jesy Fortino – vocals* Nicole Kern – cello* Michael Muller – guitar, piano, vocals* Rob Lowe – banjo, guitar, piano, vocals, melodica* Taylor Tehan – drumsand...

(2009)
Constellations (2010)
Candor / Clamor (2010 7" Vinyl) (2010)
Live at Sint-Elisabethkerk (2011)

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Members

Discography

External links