Wovenhand

Wovenhand is a Gothic Americana rock band formed by Colorado singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist David Eugene Edwards. Since the demise of his brooding alt-country band 16 Horsepower, it has become his full time vehicle. The music offers winding, dark, atmospheric lyrics with a fierce spiritual bent circling around elements of vintage folk, country blues, and gospel music given force by swampy rock & roll. While Edwards performed (mostly) solo on Wovenhand's self-titled 2001 debut and two subsequent albums, he expanded the studio group to a quartet for 2006's gloomy Mosaic. By the time 2010's globally acclaimed, modally structured The Threshingfloor was released, the band had become a trio. Wovenhand's sound evolved to include mutant rockabilly, surf, desert blues, and spooky prog on 2016's Star Treatment, with guitarist and future songwriting partner Chuck French. It was their last outing for six years. Edwards and French wrote, recorded, and released 2022's wildly diverse Silver Sash with a quintet.

In 2001, 16 Horsepower went on hiatus, and as the group pondered a new creative direction, Edwards launched Wovenhand, built around similar musical and thematic frameworks but with a more powerful and personal approach. Edwards initially formed Wovenhand as a trio with multi-instrumentalist Daniel McMahon and guitarist Steve Taylor (also a member of 16 Horsepower), though soon the lineup would expand to include Ordy Garrison on drums and Paul Fonfara on cello. (For live work, Shane Trost subbed for Fonfara on cello.) Edwards played nearly all the instruments on Wovenhand's first album in 2002, released by Glitterhouse in Europe and Sounds Familyre in the United States. In 2003, he reworked several pieces from the Wovenhand debut for a Belgian dance troupe, and the results were released on the album Blush Music. For 2004's Consider the Birds, Wovenhand contrasted Edwards' solo material with tracks that featured a full band, while for live shows Wovenhand was a duo consisting of Edwards and Garrison.

The additional musicians played a larger role on 2006's Mosaic, the first Wovenhand album after 16 Horsepower officially retired in 2005; the album also saw the departure of Daniel McMahon and the arrival of guitarist Peter van Laerhoven, while another 16 Horsepower veteran, Pascal Humbert, signed on as bassist. While Wovenhand initially functioned much like an Edwards solo project, 2008's Ten Stones found the group sharing songwriting credits for the first time, as well as recording as a band throughout. Edwards went back to writing material on his own for 2010's The Threshingfloor, and the group supported the album's release with a handful of dates opening for Tool. In 2012, Edwards was invited to perform as part of a reunion tour for the acclaimed Australian alternative rock band Crime & the City Solution, and Alexander Hacke (a former member of Einstürzende Neubauten who also took part in the CATCS tour) joined Edwards in the studio to produce Wovenhand's 2012 release, The Laughing Stalk, which featured Garrison on drums, Chuck French (Planes Mistaken for Stars) on guitar, and Gregory Garcia, Jr. on bass. Refractory Obdurate, with Edwards accompanied by Garrison, French, and new bassist Neil Keener, was released in 2014, followed in 2016 by Star Treatment, the latter of which was recorded at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio studio with hard-hitting metal producer Sandford Parker.

It would be the last Wovenhand outing for six long years.

After a lengthy international tour and a well-deserved break, the ever restless Edwards began a songwriting collaboration with French. They co-wrote, recorded, and released 2022's wildly diverse Silver Sash with a quintet that included longtime drummer Ordy Garrison, bassist Neil Keener, and synthesist Dylan Nadon. The nine-song set was produced and engineered with Jason Begin. Wovenhand's sound had expanded to include blasted, effects-laden Gothic western soundscapes, noisy psychedelia, spooky Americana, and apocalyptic garage rock. ~ Mark Deming & Thom Jurek, Rovi