Confused? As was I upon seeing the artist name (Englishman) and location (Lexington, Kentucky). But then I read a bit and realized these guys are playing a clever little word game with us – the lead singer’s name is Andrew English. English. Get it? His last name is English. Ok, neverMIND, everyone’s obviously too shallow to understand what’s going on here. Besides me, duh. (…I feel like I’m one of the idiots from Rescue Me – Garrity maybe?)
On to the music. Englishman is a Supergroup trio made up of The Scourge of The Sea‘s English, These United States/The Scourge of The Sea guitarist Justin Craig and piano player Matthew Duncan. Craig holds a special place in our hearts because KR shares close ties with These United States, especially with the whole D.C. connection and all. But it’s not simply these close ties that compel me to Englishman’s music; It’s not just the wistful, forlorn, nostalgic feeling the band evokes. It’s the honest simplicity of the sound, the soft acoustic strumming, the warm satisfaction I get from English’s raspy vocals that cajole my ears. And I wouldn’t take the music any less.
Listen to their self-released debut EP, Taxidermy, streaming in its entirety on MySpace, and grab a couple favorite tracks for download below.
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