History

Hoots & Hellmouth was formed in 2005 by Sean Hoots and Andrew Gray. The formation of the band was partially a reaction to and a rebellion against the grandiose rock-star attitude of modern rock bands, with which both were previously involved. They initially started the group as a duo, playing roots music

Traditional music

Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...

 intended to evoke the feeling of revival

Revival

Revival may refer to:*Resuscitation of a person*Language revival of an extinct language*Revival of a defunct team*Revival of a former television series*Revival of a former hit play in a new production...

 shows. They eventually expanded to four members after adding Pilot Round The Sun guitarist Rob Berliner and John Branigan. Most of the time, they play without a live drummer, instead stomping and using hand percussion such as tambourine

Tambourine

The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....

s. The group's self-titled debut appeared in 2007 on MAD Dragon Records, distributed by Warner

Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

. In early 2008, the album, Hoots & Hellmouth, won in The 7th Annual Independent Music Awards

The Independent Music Awards

The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....

 for Best College Record Label Album. Their follow-up album, The Holy Open Secret, arrived in 2009. On Friday, August 21, as part of their months-long CD release tour, the band headlined their second WXPN

WXPN

WXPN is a non-commercial, public radio station operated by the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia that broadcasts a music radio format called adult album alternative , along with many other format shows supported all with an indie slant...

 Free at Noon concert, playing an 8-song set. The show, which was videotaped for WHYY-TV's weekly On Canvas program, took place at World Cafe Live

World Cafe

World Cafe is a two-hour long, nationally syndicated music radio program that originates from WXPN, a non-commercial station licensed to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The program began in 1991 and was originally distributed by Public Radio...

 and was broadcast live via radio. On April 19, 2010 "The Window in the Woodshed" was unveiled on HootsandHellmouth.com. A video for unreleased new material titled "The Photograph is Still." In early November 2010 the band unveiled through their Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 page, Kickstarter

Kickstarter

Kickstarter is an online threshold pledge system for funding creative projects. Kickstarter has funded a diverse array of endeavors, ranging from indie film and music to journalism, solar energy technology and food-related projects.-Model:...

, and other media that they were no longer carried by a label. They had been working on new material for some time and still wished to release a new album. Their Kickstarter project entitled "It came from the woodshed!" was announced on November 5, 2010 with an initial goal of $6,000 to produce and record a 6 song EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

. Eventually when the pledged total reached the $10,000 mark on November 23 the band issued an update asking for fans to reach the $15,000 mark so a full LP could be produced. By December 6, 2010, the campaign achieved $23,882 and was listed in Kickstarter's Hall of Fame, which lists 100 of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns since the company's inception in 2009. The album is as of set to be recorded presumably in February 2011 while they are on tour in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

 which is where the band has studio time booked.

Members

• Sean Hoots - guitar, vocals
• Andrew "Hellmouth" Gray - guitar, vocals
• Rob Berliner - mandolin, vocals
• John Branigan - bass

Discography

• Hoots & Hellmouth (MAD Dragon Records, 2007)
• The Holy Open Secret (MAD Dragon Records, 2009)
• Face First In The Dirt (2011)
• Salt (2011)

External links

• Official site
• Hoots & Hellmouth at Last.fm
  Last.fm
  Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....