Let me put it this way – if I’m not kickin’ it cool in the shade of the oak on the southeast corner of That Tent listening to The Lowest Pair at Bonnaroo 2015, I’ll probably go home. Did I make that clear enough? Are you listening, Ashley Capps?
Out February 25th, 2015 on Team Love Records, hear the album’s lead single, “Rosie,” that premiered yesterday at
The Bluegrass Situation.
Big thanks to Nate Walker over at Riot Act for the introduction!
The Lowest Pair features the duel banjo picking of Kendl Winter and Palmer T. Lee. Draped in Kendl’s high lonesome harmonies and Palmer’s Midwest croon, their debut release, 36¢, (Team Love Records) was hailed by many outlets and American Songwriter praised their ”earnest, earthy songcraft.” On Feb 24, 2015, Team Love will release their sophomore album, The Sacred Heart Sessions.
Arkansas-born and now homesteading in Olympia, Washington, Kendl Winter sprouts alfalfa beans in mason jars in the back of the tour van and spreads her songs across the country Johnny Appleseed style. Kendl brings to The Lowest Pair her wonderfully weaving poetry of song, old and new, and a voice somewhere between Gillian Welch and Iris DeMent with a little Olympia twist. Palmer T. Lee who hails from Minneapolis was nineteen years old when he inherited a couple of banjos and discovered he could reassemble them into his dream instrument. Former front man for the much loved high energy bluegrass band The Boys n’ the Barrels, Palmer’s songs are distilled into the warm sweet sounds of his percussive wordplay and the melodic interludes of his own unique style played on a pieced together banjo.
After nearly a year of traveling the country playing clubs, hotels, house shows, back yards and street corners, they found their way back up to Minnesota, this time to Duluth where they sat down to record the follow-up to 36¢. Linking up with Tom Fabjance at an old church (the same one Low recorded C’Mon in) seemed like the perfect way to expand on their sound without diluting their original magical formula. The Sacred Heart Sessions is an album that allows the listening to enter the space that surrounds its creation. One can virtually feel the walls and vaulted ceiling of the old wooden church rising up, creating a natural reverb and warming the air.
Be it Kendl’s punk roots, her admiration for the traditional American songbook or the gravitational pull she sensed drawing her to Olympia, it’s her combining these talents and creative impulses with Palmer’s Midwestern charm, the long winters spent listening to a steady diet of Townes Van Zandt and John Hartford and the strange moment of fate that left him with two inherited banjos as a young man; this combination has resulted in a uniquely original sound that is The Lowest Pair.
Praise for this year’s debut album, 36¢:
“…earnest, earthy songcraft.” American Songwriter
“Kendl Winter and Palmer T. Lee write about living and dying the way you’d write about waiting for a cake to bake.” Daytrotter
“If you’ve ever wanted to trade in city drudgery for a pastoral life, you’ll identify with The LowestPair.” CMT Edge
“Say hello to the first great album of 2014.” In Your Speakers
“She and Lee’s banjos intertwine with ease, emoting softer than the instruments usually do. Despite their resonance and volume, the twin tracks allow Winter’s Nicks-esque vocals to cut through the mix with devastating effect.” The Bluegrass Situation
“Winter possesses a voice that is able to transmit tenderness and determination, the nuances of which come glazed with a faint layer of the abrasive; a vocal that feels like it’s run up against a few hard times and got through some of them by sheer force of will.” Unrecorded
“The Northwest and Midwest meet together with the jangly strum of banjo heaven with Olympia’s Kendl and Winter Minnesota’s Palmer T. Lee who strum along with some rustic sounds of holistic, head held high and upward, and happy living. ” IMPOSE
“Wondrous banjo duet…” SPIN
Tour Dates:
11.14.14 – Portland, OR @ Al’s Den Residency
11.15.14 – Portland, OR @ Al’s Den Residency
11.18.14 – Bainbridge Island, WA @ The Treehouse
11.19.14 – Bellingham, WA @ The Green Frog
11.20.14 – Long Beach, WA @ The Adrift
11.21.14 – Long Beach, WA @ The Adrift
11.22.14 – South Bend, WA @ The 101 Public House
11.23.14 – Astoria, OR @ Fort George Brewery
11.27.14 – Troutdale, OR @ The Edgefield for Thanksgiving!
11.28.14 – Forest Grove, OR @ The Grand Lodge
11.28.14 – McMinnville, OR @ The Hotel Oregon12.01.14 – San Francisco, CA @ Osteria
12.03.14 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Crepe Place
12.04.14 – Chico, CA @ 1078 Gallery
12.07.14 – Roseville, CA @ The Strum Shop
12.12.14 – Sutter Creek, CA @ Sutter Creek Theater
12.18.14 – Sheboygan, WI @ Paradigm Coffeehouse
12.19.14 – La Crosse, WI @ The Root Note
12.20.14 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Cedar for the 6th Annual Yuletide Sweater Ball
12.16.14 – Minocqua, WI @ Minocqua Brewing Co.
