Band of the Week: Wovenhand

Hometown: Elktooth, Colo.
Fun Fact: Singer/songwriter David Eugene Edwards claims a Native American influence on his next album and says the song “Kingdom Of Ice” best embodies Wovenhand’s sound in his mind.
Why It's Worth Watching: The band’s fifth album, Ten Stones, features its signature booming sound recorded with members of Danielson.
For Fans Of: The Cure, Iron & Wine, 16 Horsepower

David Eugene Edwards has no delusions of grandeur. His songs don’t get radio time in his home country, so he’s aware of his band Wovenhand’s finite longevity, especially compared with his muse. “What God makes is what is going to stand and not what I make,” he tells Paste. “These songs that I make will not endure.”

They’ve endured long enough for Wovenhand to release five albums, the latest of which, Ten Stones, is available this week (Sept. 9). Before Wovenhand, Edwards led 16 Horsepower, which yielded its own eight albums.

Not that Edwards expects Americans to have heard much of his rumbling voice and crashing cymbals. “In America, it’s all indie, hip-hop and boy bands. Not much rock and roll anymore,” he says. “It’s all the indie rock. But indie rock is just as closed in a sense. They’re just like the major labels, they’re just smaller.”

Edwards shares a label, Sounds Familyre Records, with indie hitmaker Sufjan Stevens, but says his sound doesn’t fit in with any of the established genres in America. He’s not, in his words, the “tender bruiser: the big guy with the beard singing sad, sweet songs.” Instead, “it’s kind of a heavy folk music,” he says. This album was recorded to sound as “live as possible,” which for Wovenhand means “quite aggressive.”

“It’s much more straightforward than the past records,” Edwards says. "There are 10 songs on the record, first of all, but a stone is also a unit of measure in Britain. One stone is 14 pounds, making Ten Stones pretty weighty. For example, the song ‘Not One Stone’ is talking about the church as being built by Christ.”

In Europe, Wovenhand has found more success. Edwards estimates the band spends about four months of the year touring there. When he spoke to Paste, the band had just returned from a European tour, and planned to go back this fall after the release of Ten Stones. “We’re not a big radio band and it’s definitely touring and word of mouth,” Edwards says. “In Europe, people are much more—they don’t really go with what the trend is.”

Features

Killing Time: A playlist of modern murder ballads

Features

Wake of the Flood

7 Comments

Click to leave a comment.

By Barry Feltzwater on September 8, 2008

Wow! I just downloaded a few songs from the Sounds Familyre website, and I'm blown away! Do yourself a favor and check it out.

By Robert Winship on September 8, 2008

I saw Wovenhand open for Iron & Wine/Calexico a few years back. I haven't seen that much soul in a performance hardly ever. I don't mean like R&B soul...I mean the element that drives a man.

By Joe McSpadden on September 8, 2008

Wovenhand puts on one of the more intense live shows I've been to. This guy is a great example of an artist who so inhabits his work it can be kind of intimidating...he shakes his leg, rolls his eyes, and howls enough to bring the fear of God into the room...even making some of Johnny Cash's songs on judgment and sin seem soft in comparison.

By Jahmah on September 8, 2008

Ive been waiting for this album for a long time and its been worth waiting for. I am always inebriated by the Spirit that inhabits Mr. Edwards whenever I partake of his music.
This new album is especially wonderful to me. I am enjoying the Native American infusion, taking me right back to my own roots.
I eagerly await Wovenhand's return to the Northwest again !

By Melomane on September 10, 2008

"Ten Stones" is Woven Hand's masterpiece to date! Now you really can feel and hear this special sound, which you only heard live on stage before. But be warned: The live performance of "Ten Stones" will be HEAVY - and I mean HEAVY!

So see you on one of the upcoming tour dates! Don't miss them, because Woven Hand is one of the best live bands at the moment - and this worldwide!!!

By Melomane on September 11, 2008

Here's a review from an Austrian Woven Hand fan, who wrote a review for his blog on Myspace - here we go:

When I met drummer Ordy Garrison after the Woven Hand show in Vienna last year (Szene – 31.05.2007), I asked him about the upcoming album and he answered: “It will be completely different!”. Now, as I have listened to the brandnew “Ten Stones” I must agree – the album sounds really completely different and it’s full with surprises:

“The beautiful Axe” opens the long awaited album and it’s obvious, that
the sound has changed in some way. Contrast to former albums now you can hear and feel the drumming and so it’s much more powerful and closer to the
typically Woven Hand live sound. Especially when Ordy Garrison is kicking the shit out of his drums while David Eugene Edwards singing “Joy has come, it rises with the sun, He the highest on the horizon”. Special heavy guitar riffs and the drone of the Hurdy Gurdy makes this song so unique. With “Horsetail” a more typically Woven Hand song follows. A wonderful acoustic bass fiddle and David’s impressive voice “If you think you can see it in your hand, then you are blind” create a wonderful atmosphere. The music for this one was written by David Eugene Edwards and Peter van Laerhoven, who is also responsible for the live noise and atmospheric sounds he creates just only on his guitar. “Not one Stone” is without any doubt one of the highlights. A wonderful melody, great
guitar work from Peter van Laerhoven again and Ordy’s outstanding drumming meet with David Eugene Edwards’ unbelievable voice singing “Behold the lamb, given for us, made course of us” make this song to another Woven Hand classic. “Cohawkin Road” features the guest appearances of Emil Nikolaisen form the Norway group Serena Maneesh on guitar with Samuel and David Durling (two brothers from the Swedish Industrial band called Mental Destruction) doing some “guest noise”, as it’s credited in the booklet. A very atmospheric song with mysterious lyrics
(“Yet in the mirror of the knife I see only me”) will satisfy any Woven Hand
fan, I guess. “Iron Feather” begins with an amazing piano intro and leads into a song, which was already played at the last tour in summer (like “The
beautiful Axe”), which catches you after the first lines “I must miss you,
under the ashen sky”. Very atmospheric again and it features also Emil Nikolaisen on guitar and Daniel C. Smith (who co-produced “Ten Stones” with David Eugene Edwards) from the group Danielson on backing vocals. Another Woven Hand classic that gives all fans the creeps. Mr. Edwards has written the next one with Daniel C. Smith: “White Knuckle Grip” is a bluesy and rockin’ piece of music, which many fans won’t like, I’m afraid. Because it’s completely different to anything, David Eugene Edwards recorded for Woven Hand up to date. Nevertheless is this song a beauty and shows, that David is open minded for any kind of music. And I’m sure, that this one will hit some people with full force, who have never heard about Woven Hand before. Then the next surprise is waiting, in which David acts like a Crooner: “Quiet Nights of quiet Stars” (a Carlos Jobim
cover) is this kind of track, nobody has expected. A Bossa Nova sound played by Woven Hand? Yes – you won’t believe this, until you’ve heard it. By the way:
The Walkabouts also covered this song. The Woven Hand version gives “Ten Stones” a perfect break and although it’s very unusual, it fits perfectly between the songs. After this “break” the next surprise is coming along: “Kicking Bird” (a native American plains chant named after the Kiowa chief of the same name) only
endures a little bit more than two minutes, but this one kicks ass! Ordy’s
drumming, a driving rhythm and chant show us again, that Woven Hand are also
ready to rock in a studio. The music for this one was co-written by guitar
player Peter van Laerhoven with Woven Hand. “Kingdom of Ice” (lyrics inspired
by the book of Job) is already known, because of the live performance this year in the summertime. Hurdy Gurdy, Banjola, sounds of galloping horses and David’s intense singing “Lay hand to mouth, spoken once, you have no answer. Lay hand to mouth, spoken twice, and say no more” make this one to another highlight of “Ten Stones”. “His loyal Love” (music written by bass player Pascal Humbert) is atmospheric and full with sounds, while David’s voice (and the one of Elin K. Smith) are in the background. This would also fit perfectly on the next Lilium album. Then, an untitled bonus track closes “Ten Stones”: It’s not really an
instrumental, more a noisy thing, like you can hear on the last track “Little
Raven” of the last famous “Mosaic” album. Atmosphere, Hurdy Gurdy, vocal
improvisations, breathing and various sound creations finishing the masterpiece “Ten Stones” with an eleventh “stone”.