The Foghorns

This week DJ Kevin Cole has taken us on a musical journey that has spanned not only several genres but also the globe. Today’s artist has done that as well. The Foghorns are the brainchild of Bart Cameron who originally hailed from Wisconsin and formed the band as an outlet to play bluegrass/rock music before moving to Brooklyn, NY, where he performed with members of the Cobble Hillbillies. As if that wasn’t enough, after receiving the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, Cameron packed his trunks once again, this time for Iceland. There in addition to his studies, he spent a few years touring the country (often only with a bucket player as accompaniment) and playing music festivals including the Iceland Airwaves music festival. Cameron and the rest of the touring band now reside in the Emerald City and bring us their fifth studio release from the Wisconsin-based label Beefy Beef Records (where according to their website, “so much is at steak”). Today’s song “Old Bachelors in Cleveland” is in a similar vein as fellow Seattlites The Duchess & The Duke (folkadelic) but still maintains its bluegrass roots and instrumentation (namely the slide guitar). The lyrics, laden with melancholy and the harmonies of Cameron and vocalist Katie Quigley invite listeners to continue that journey Bart Cameron started so long ago.

You can catch The Foghorns at the Blue Moon on November 13th and a few other places around town. Check out their MySpace page for dates. There’s plenty of videographic evidence of The Foghorns various incarnations between Seattle, Brooklyn and Iceland and their YouTube channel. Here’s a version of “Sleepy Waltz” recorded at the Tractor Tavern just three days ago!

This entry was posted in KEXP, Local Music, Song of the Day Podcast and tagged The Foghorns. - KEXP 90.3 Seattle

The Foghorns [Feature Band]


3 September 2009 Written by Fense No Comment Tags: beefy beef records, the foghorns

There’s a growing number of country-based folk bands appearing throughout the Seattle area and the latest to warrant your attention is the male/female duo The Foghorns. This week they released their new record, A Diamond As Big As The Motel 6, on Beefy Beef Records. Their home may be Seattle, but they’re not strangers to the world, having resided everywhere from Ireland to Wisconsin to Brooklyn.

The Foghorns’ old-time country-folk is filled with emotive verse, lovable in all its harmony, and the perfect lament for the wanderer. Songs like “Not Every Horse” are ripe with emotion, while others like “Rose” and “Old Bachelors In Cleveland” are just plain excellent. “Brooklyn Bridge” even pulls out pop keyboard riffs and jangle guitar!

These tunes easily place The Foghorns in company with The Banyans for the best new Seattle folk band of the year.

Next week The Foghorns exit the state of Washington for a tour across the country in support of A Diamond As Big As The Motel 6, hitting some favorites, including Moscow (ID), Minneapolis, Omaha, and Eugene along the way. For a full list of dates, head over to The Foghorns on MySpace. - Fensepost

There’s something dark at the melancholy heart of lead Foghorn Bart Cameron’s country-tinged missives of loves past, present and possible. On a low-key two-date Scottish stopover in a stripped-back duo format, some-time Reykjavik resident Cameron’s downbeat demeanour is offset by the honeyed counterpoint of co-vocalist Katie Quigley in a short set of gentle heartbreak. Standing side by side, Cameron in vintage suit, Quigley swaying with hands in print frock pockets, and with only their voices and an acoustic guitar for company, a doleful harmonica sets the tone, with most songs drawn from this year’s Beefy Beefy Records release, ‘A Diamond As Big As The Motel Six.’

Cameron’s milieu is old-time booze-soaked laments deep-fried with dust-bowl languor. The delivery is as contrary to the band name as possible, with only the throwaway rites-of-passage boogie of ‘Brooklyn Bridge,’ when the're joined by Iceland's own Benni Hemm Hemm on drums, coming close to bottle-smashing clatter. Cynicism and idealism step out together on ‘Old Bachelors in Cleveland,’ a gentle sneer at aging singletons

once the narrator’s own true love has come calling. This was presumably written before the adulterous smooch of ‘Sleepy Waltz,’ which, like a Raymond Carver miniature set to a slowed-down n’ woozy melody from The Velvet Underground’s ‘I’m Sticking With You’, shuffles through its after-hours liaison with a set of conflicting emotions that are as bittersweet as they are unrepentant in a swoonalong song worth staying out late for. - The List.co.uk

Sometimes you just want to kick back with a beer and listen to some high quality tunes without all the bullshit. The Foghorns have it covered with their folky jams. The band – a beloved mainstay on the Reykjavík scene a couple of years back, until they relocated to the US of A – are making their return to Reykjavik to celebrate the release of their fifth album, A Diamond As Big As the Motel 6, written and recorded in the American Northwest. The Foghorns are a tried and tested live band, their melodies are sweet and the accompanying lyrics (by former Grapevine editor-slash-legend Bart Cameron) make the mix one not to be missed.
Also performing at the show is the one and only Benni Hemm Hemm, who has long since ensured his status as one of Iceland’s favourite musicians. The show will be held at Grand Rokk, July 29th, at 9 p.m. Sit back and enjoy the music – this night is not to be missed. - The Reykjavik Grapevine

The Foghorns It’s a long way from Wisconsin to Iceland, yet with frontman Bart Cameron editing the Reykjavik Grapevine, The Foghorns have been racking up the air miles points since they made the move to Reykjavik in 2003. A dynamic band to say the least, The Foghorns have repeatedly demonstrated their adaptability. Not for them a cowardly fear of change. Nope, with origins in punk, melodic rock and the Icelandic studio scene, The Foghorns have proven their versatility in every atmosphere. Back when they played in Brooklyn before moving to Iceland, The Foghorns used six-piece bluegrass band The Cobble Hillbillies as an orchestra. In Iceland, in more keeping with their surrounding they have used a bucket player who goes by the stage name Das Bucket. As you do. Innovative, witty and always fun, the Foghorns blast through all the stormy change that comes their way. [MM]
- London Now Bigtime 2005

The Foghorns have been pretty active in the music scene the past couple of years, playing numerous shows but never drawing a big crowd. The brainchild of former Grapevine editor, Bart Cameron, this release was partly recorded live in Reykjavík and partly in some (I imagine) seedy locations in Brooklyn and Wisconsin. The sound is rough and lo-fi but perfectly fitting the Bruce Springsteen folk-punk rock (think Nebraska, not Born To Run). Lyrically it’s an album of sorrow, sadness and longing – the bitterness shines through. It sounds honest and raw with a feeling of intensity; as if the band has a point to make and really, really wants the listener to get it; as if they care about their work, getting the music out just to get it out and not because they think it will make them lots of money. It won’t. So throw all the money you can spare at them because this is a fucking great CD. - The Reykjavik Grapevine