Quiet Hollers are a cult/gang/band from Louisville, KY formed semi-accidentally in 2010 following an album release party for which the band was recruited. In 2013, the band’s debut album I Am the Morning, a “reverb-soaked dive into the stream-of-consciousness confessionals” (No Depression) of singer/songwriter Shadwick Wilde featured a drummer whose neck was literally broken– the band refusing to postpone their session at the since-defunct Funeral Home studio of analog guru Kevin Ratterman (Murder By Death, Andrew Bird, My Morning Jacket) after a waterfall-diving accident.
Although the album was received with polite applause from the European blogosphere, and a smattering of indie music writers for whom it was a “Best of 2013,” it flew mostly under the radar in the band’s hometown of Louisville, KY despite rotation on WFPK and a nomination for best album in the inaugural Louisville Music Awards.
Quiet Hollers: Mont Blanc
Booking a slew of tours across the eastern half of the US (often using connections from Wilde’s days as guitarist-for-hire for seminal Dischord Records band Iron Cross), Quiet Hollers produced their sophomore full-length without label support… relying instead on a small but dedicated cult following who funded nearly the entire project. Released in October 2015, “Quiet Hollers” runs the proverbial gamut of the band’s eclectic influences to deliver literate, hook-laden narratives, blasting through tube amps in swirls of violin and piano. Consequence of Sound called it a “beautiful portrait,” breaking the “confines of roots music,” and PopMatters deemed the album “wonderfully unique,” with a “strong post-hardcore influence.”
Quiet Hollers: Mont Blanc Lyrics:
I know I planted those seeds down too deep
they’ll die and never see the sun
my fault for that one
I was a city boy before
no excuses anymore
I’ll try to learn and to keep us fed
shed a tear for the books I shoulda read
and I’d seen all the warning signs
on the TV, in the Times
but I had you to hold at night
and so it took me by surprise
we had so many things back then
I had a silver Mont Blanc pen
I’d write for hours about nothing
that makes any difference now
and I used to worry what clothes I had on
the school recitals and the manicured lawns
and I had a laundry-list of people
I could count on if it all went wrong…
and then the bomb
now I take precautions for my peace of mind
I don’t know what difference it might make
to hang on any longer
but I cut the tree across the drive
spend the daylight hours inside
trying to make the place look empty
so as no-one comes around
I thought I saw them again last night
those same distant headlights
sweeping back and forth across
the empty shells of the summer homes
and if the bastards ever come
promise me you’ll take the kids and run
I may be weak and I may be frail
but I can throw them off your trail
and I used to worry what clothes I had on
the school recitals and the manicured lawns
and I had a laundry-list of people
I could count on if it all went wrong…
and then the bomb
shed a tear for the books I shoulda read