Thy Burden
New York City, New York, United States | SELF
Music
Press
A benefit for urban agriculture charity Just Foods – dedicated to sustainable community agriculture in NYC – turned out to be one of the best triple bills of the year so far. Maybe the energy of the election is still bouncing around. Whatever the case, it was a night for serious dancing. Thy Burden were recently mischaracterized here earlier as an Irish band (while they’d no doubt do a great job with it, our spies gave us bad information: sorry). What they are is the missing link between Bill Monroe and Gogol Bordello. With acoustic guitars and rhythm section, banjo, fiddle,mandolin and sometimes harmonica, they delivered a deliriously fun, frequently psychedelic show. They like minor keys and get the fires burning most brightly playing in them. They also like their tempos lickety-split, giving all the players a chance to show off some sizzling chops. The mandolin took most of the solos. Frequently they’d jam out on a tune for a few minutes before launching into the verse, which worked especially well on Friend of the Devil – done oldschool rather than the Grateful Dead way – and the Hank Williams classic Ramblin Man. At times, they’d add just a little Balkan tinge to the mix, which really hit the spot. There hasn’t been a bluegrass band this fun here in town since the Dixie Bee-Liners vamoosed for the hills of Virginia, or maybe even since Brooklyn Browngrass split up. - Lucid Culture
Discography
2009 - Cochecton Hills: Epic Ballads of Murder and Whiskey
2010 - Thy Burden: Irish Legion
2010 - American Standard EP
Photos
Bio
Thy Burden was conceived in 2007 in Brooklyn, New York and has been spreading their distinct brand of low down and raw music from state to state, across borders and around the world ever since. They are the sound of whiskey induced American folklore, nostalgic of a time that is now celebrated only in books and movies while remaining conscious of modern tonality. Within the music of Thy Burden you’ll find stories of murder and the celebration of the living, the drunk and disorderly, the holy and the sinner, the lonesome and the renowned structured by a sound that is grounded in American roots music with gypsy undertones and a foot stomping pace. In other words, if the ghost of Hank Williams decided to get drunk and party his way into a second death, Thy Burden would be the soundtrack of the reprise to his demise. With two full length albums to their credit and a growing following, Thy Burden is quickly becoming a new standard in American music.
In the summer of 2010 Thy Burden began work on their next album and first true statement as a band, littered with elements of psychadelia and the most vivid visions of frontman Ian Boyle's songwriting. Thy Burden does not wish to worship the "Old, Weird America" but carries the burden lightheartedly with an authenticity matched by no other in the New York scene.
“Brooklyn’s Thy Burden melds traditional bluegrass with a dark and cinematic sensibility."
Time Out New York
5/04/2009
"...[Thy Burden is] the missing link between Bill Monroe and Gogol Bordello"
Lucid Culture World Press
11/19/2008
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