Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Houston Brothers-These brothers, a.k.a.Faircloth brothers who also play with
local hipsters Les Dirt Clods and The Goldenrods,create a moody, minimal and haunting sound fit for a film soundtrack. The bros used all-cello,lap-steel,percussion, piano, synth and more --to create a disc titled I Take Care of You. The recording was originally made to accompany a theatrical performance this past summer. With Helicopter. High recommendation. Saturday,
The Evening Muse.
-Samir Shukla,Creative Loafing,Charlotte,NC 11.10.01
The Houston Brothers- What’s offered in our fair city is a smorgasbord of many really talented bands. The good thing is the “play and swap scene” local musicians have created to produce a harvest of side bands and projects. The Houston Brothers are one such outfit (consisting of Matt and Justin Faircloth)that creates a jazzy aura of moody, ambient sounds with warm acoustic and electric instruments. The multi-instrumentalists released i take care of you recently and it’s one of the most
potent records to run across my desk the whole year.
– Samir Shukla,Creative Loafing, Charlotte, NC - 2001
Discography
I Take Care of You- released 2000
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
So I m standing outside the Evening Muse on North Davidson Street, waiting to see the Houston Brothers. Id had it on good authority that this Charlotte duo was strictly out of sight. One of
the other bands on the bill had been playing when I walked up to the club. They sounded good, as good as a band can when listened to through brick and plate glass. I heard a resonant rhythm
section, electric piano, guitar, and harmony vocals. I decided
to go in and catch the rest of their set in preparation for the Houstons. So I walk in and what do I see on stage but two guys amidst a sea of equipment making all that noise. Holy shit-this was the Houstons and I d missed half their set smoking cigarettes outside.
The Houston Brothers are siblings, but their surname is really Faircloth. Justin, the elder Faircloth/Houston, plays keys
and drums onstage simultaneously, a feat he accomplishes by nestling the kickdrum of a cocktail-size trapset beneath a Rhodes piano which is in turn surmounted by a synthesizer. Younger brother Matt, not to be outdone, plays analog bass pedals with his bare feet, while operating a guitar, and often a bottleneck, with his bare hands. Both Houstons sing, the brothers trading off lead vocals and harmonizing as only siblings can. In short, we're talking about a couple of modern-day, multi-instrumental Everlys, who write beautiful songs.
The brothers, being brothers, have played music together most of their lives. They stepped up their efforts about a year ago when asked to provide music for an Asheville, N.C. theatrical production. The resulting soundtrack CD, entitled I Take Care Of You, was an immediate hit with Tarheel music lovers, and the Houston Brothers project was born. Since then, theyve been walking the walk, sweating gigs around the region, and writing and recording music, the latter of which taking place in brother Justins attic studio. While this is good news to fans awaiting another Houston Brothers record, my advice in the meantime to those who would enjoy witnessing a truly astonishing musical phenomenon would be to go see the Houstons -while you can still do so in a place small enough to allow smoking.
-Nick Fotheringay, Charlotte, NC
Links
