* En anglais uniquement
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