New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The Bohannons are a bit of a Tennessee institution, but the central tenant of their music is their unwavering commitment to making challenging records. Their third full length album, Luminary Angels, promises nothing short of that commitment.
Brothers Marty and Matt Bohannon have been at it for a while; the two made their first recording on a four-track cassette tape in a duplex garage at their parents' home. Their first release in 2008, Songs for the Disenfranchised, found them performing at Mucklewain Festival and completing a tour of England. In 2010 the brothers recorded the Days of Echo EP at Chicago's Electrical Audio Studio produced by both Steve Albini and Vance Powell of Nashville's
Sputnik Sound, and guest musicians included Jimmy Matt Roland (Ghostfinger) and multi-instrumentalist, John Spiegel (Freakwater.)
After the success of their EP, The Bohannon brothers went on to record their critically-acclaimed debut album, Unaka Rising at Chase Park Transduction, with both
David Barbe (Drive-By Truckers) and Drew Vandenberg. The album's title references the Unaka province of East Tennessee and western North Carolina, a place that has inspired much of the lyrical poeticism found in Bohannons' songs. Their sophomore album,
Black Cross,
Black Shield, put them at the top of a new breed of bands to emerge from the South by delivering an intense, highly-charged platter that incorporated punk, metal and southern roots music into a heavy and heady melting pot of sounds and styles. Guest musicians on the album include
James Leg (piano and Fender Rhodes),
Nikki Ellis and Mary Higgins (backing vocals) and Jimbo Mathus (harmonica).
Luminary Angels in the Bohannons first release that includes Billy C. Robinson on bass and Mike Gaut on drums. They began touring with The Bohannons in 2013. The four piece band continually show respect and dedication to their Southern roots, as they are known locally for hosting national and international artists in their hometown of Chattanooga, a mid-size post-industrial southern city with a burgeoning arts scene. The land and the population are indicative of the material generated by the band.
