| All Them Witches | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | ATW |
| Origin | Nashville, Tennessee, USA |
| Genres | Stoner Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Blues, Folk, Southern Rock |
| Years active | 2012 - Present |
| Labels | Elektrohasch Schallplatten, New West |
| Website | All Them Witches Official |
All Them Witches are an American rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of drummer Robby Staebler, vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Charles Michael Parks Jr, guitarist Ben McLeod, and keyboardist Allan Van Cleave. The band's musical style incorporates elements from multiple genres, such as hard rock, stoner rock, psychedelia, neo-psychedelia, blues, folk, and southern rock. Vocalist and bassist, Charles Michael Parks Jr., who is also the band's lyricist,[1] has described international folk music as one of his biggest influences, and cited Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, (early) Fleetwood Mac, and Roy Buchanan as artists of which all band members are fans.[2] Guitarist, Ben McLeod additionally cites Jerry Garcia and The Doors as significant influences, beginning in his childhood.[3] Drummer Robby Stabler cites Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, Santana, Neil Young, and Nick Drake.[4]
To date the band has released six studio albums among numerous EPs and Singles, all the while touring all over The United States and Europe. The band's name is taken from a book of witchcraft, All of Them Witches, featured in the 1968 film Rosemary's Baby.[5]
History[]
Formation and Early Years (2012 - 2015)[]
All Them Witches first formed on 6 January 2012.[6] Drummer Robby Staebler, having lost all of his money, had recently sold many of his possessions and moved to Nashville from Portland, at which time he was living in his car.[7] The intention of the move had been for Staebler to play in another person's band; however, he left the project upon finding the other party difficult to work with.[8] Staebler had created a rough collection of 8 tracks in which he played all instruments and, being "in love with the sound," was looking for musicians to turn that project into a band.[9][10]
Staebler recruited guitarist Ben McLeod after seeing him playing slide guitar at a bar.[11] The pair originally attempted creating jazz music, but abandoned this in favor of a heavier sound. This was followed several months later by Staebler meeting front-man and bassist Charles Michael Parks Jr. while they were both working for "a corporate hippie store."[12][13] Parks was shown a collection of demo songs created by Staebler and McLeod, which persuaded him to join.
The band self-released their first, self-titled four-track EP in the same year as their formation.[14] They then became the first American band to be signed to the German heavy psych record label, Elektrohasch Schallplatten. Their debut album, Our Mother Electricity (which had previously been self-released by the band in summer 2012), was released on Elektrohasch with new mastering and new artwork (by Mat Bethancourt) in February 2013.[15][16] Soon after came their second EP, Extra Pleasant, which was recorded with two microphones directly to a four-track cassette tape recorder. In 2013, the band's second studio album, Lightning at the Door, was self-released via their own Bandcamp page;[17] however, it was later marketed by Tone Tree Music. Their next self-released album was the official live album At The Garage on 10 February 2015.[18]
By 2014 the band would begin touring throughout North America with the likes of Windhand, many of their gigs released digitally. The band would also perform at Keep it Low in Germany, the band's first known show outside of North America.[19] Following a gig with Electric Citizen and a SXSW Tour, the band woudl appear at numerous festivals throughout 2015.[20]
New West Records (2015 - 2019)[]
In summer 2015, the band signed to New West Records.[21] Later in the year, they released their third studio album (and their first with New West), Dying Surfer Meets His Maker, which was recorded in six days in a remote mountainside cabin, overlooking Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.[22][23][24] The album's name was originally used by McLeod for a song in his solo project, Woodsplitter, inspired by a real-life incident where he almost died when surfing.[25]
The band's previously self-released album, Lightning at the Door, was then re-released by New West in 2016.[26] This was followed first by Live In Brussels (recorded live in Brussels, Belgium in March 2016) in September 2016,[27] then by the band's fourth studio album, Sleeping Through the War in February 2017.[28] Sleeping Through the War was produced by Nashville's Dave Cobb, who had worked previously with artists such as Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton.[29] The album featured guest vocals from three Nashville-based female vocalists: Caitlin Rose, Erin Rae, and Tristen, in addition to harmonica contributions from Mickey Raphael.[30] To support the recent releases, All Them Witches woudl tour heavily through Europe in 2017.
In mid-2018 it was announced that Jonathan Draper was replacing Allan Van Cleave on keyboards. In an interview at Download Festival 2018, Parks and Staebler made clear that the change was permanent, and that Van Cleave had left the band.[31] Their next album, ATW,[32] was released in September of that year; however, the following month, Parks announced that the band would be continuing as a three piece, without Draper.[33] ATW was produced by the band's guitarist, Ben McLeod, and mixed by producer Rob Schnapf, featuring a more simplified, naturalistic sound than their previous albums.[34][35] All Them Witches would tour Europe and North America in 2018, the latter with Primus and Mastodon.
All Them Witches would continue their extensive touring in 2019, releasing a single in 1x1 on 31 October 2019 (Halloween). Notably this would be the band's first music as a three piece. The band would also notably tour Europe as direct support to the Swedish band Ghost and perform a three-day residency at the legendary Exit/In to close out the decade.
Nothing as the Ideal (2020 - Present)[]
Work would begin on a sxith album in March 2020, finishing right before the COVID-19 pandemic would take shape. Nothing as the Ideal, in September 2020. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios (in Studio Two, as previously used by The Beatles and Pink Floyd) and produced by Mikey Allred, who had also produced their earlier album, Dying Surfer Meets His Maker.[36][37][38] Shortly before the album's release, in mid-August, a video was released for the track "The Children of Coyote Woman". The video was directed by drummer, Robby Staebler, and starred Staebler alongside professional skateboarder Evan Smith.[39] Metal Hammer named Nothing as the Ideal as the 46th best metal album of 2020.[40]
In April 2021, the band announced via Facebook and Twitter that Van Cleave had rejoined the band as its keyboard player, along with a live triple LP entitled Live on The Internet.[41] Touring for the band would resume in the Fall of 2021.
Discography[]
Studio Albums[]
- Our Mother Electricity (2012, Elektrohasch Schallplatten)
- Lightning at the Door (2013, Self-Released)
- Dying Surfer Meets His Maker (2015, New West)
- Sleeping Through the War (2017, New West)
- ATW (2018, New West)
- Nothing as the Ideal (2020, New West)
Live Albums[]
NOTE: The 2014 Bootlegs are omitted.
- All Them Witches In-Studio Performance (2012, 91 WRVU Nashville)
- Live Split (Split 7" with The Heavy Eyes) (2013, Soul Patch Records)
- At The Garage (2015, Self-Released)
- Live In Brussels (2016, Self-Released)
- Live On The Internet (2021, New West)
Extended Plays[]
- All Them Witches (2012, Self-Released)
- Extra Pleasant (2013, Self-Released)
- Effervescent (2014, Self-Released)
- Daytrotter Session (2014, Daytrotter)
- A Sweet Release (2015, Self-Released)
- Lost And Found (2018, Self-Released)
Non-album Singles[]
- Ever Present (2013, Self-Released)
- Born Under A Bad Sign (2013, Self-Released)
- George "Dubya" Kush (2014, Self-Released)
- Voodoo Chile (2015, Self-Released)
- Under Pressure (2016, Self-Released)
- Romany Dagger Remended / Surface To Air Whistle (2016, New West)
- Go and Seek (2017, Self-Released)
- 1x1 (2019, New West)
Members[]
Current Members[]
- Charles Michael Parks Jr. - Bass, Vocals (2012 - Present)
- Ben McLeod - Guitar, Vocals (2012 - Present)
- Robby Staebler - Drums, Vocals (2012 - Present)
- Allan Van Cleave - Rhodes, Keyboards, Violin (2012 - 2018, 2021 - Present)
Past Members[]
- Jonathan Draper - Keyboards (2018)
List of Known Tours[]
- September 2014 North American Tour (With Windhand) (2014)[42]
- October 2014 North American Tour (With Across Tundras) (2014)[43]
- November 2014 North American Tour (2014)[44]
- February 2015 Tour (2015)[45]
- SXSW Tour (2015)[46]
- October 2015 Tour (With The Sword, Kadavar) (2015)[47]
- Winter 2015 Tour (With New Madrid) (2015)[48]
- 2016 North American Tour (2016)[49]
- 2016 Spring European Tour (2016)[50]
- 2016 Fall European Tour (2016)[51]
- 2017 North American Tour (With Irata) (2017)[52]
- 2017 Summer European Tour (2017)[53]
- 2017 Fall European Tour (With The Ghost Wolves) (2017)[54]
- 2018 Spring North American Tour (2018)[55][56]
- 2018 Summer North American Tour (With Mastodon, Primus) (2018)[57]
- 2018 European Tour (2018)[58]
- 2019 North American Tour (2019)[59]
- 2019 Spring European Tour (2019)[60]
- 2019 Summer European Tour (2019)[61][62]
- The Ultimate Tour Named Death (With Ghost, Tribulation) (2019)[63]
- Exit/In Residency (2019)[64]
- 2021 North American Tour (2021)[65][66][67]
- 2022 Winter Tour (With Blackwater Holylight) (2022)
- 2022 UK Tour (2022)[68]
- 2022 European Tour (2022)
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ When The Horn Blows
- ↑ Magnet Magazine
- ↑ Premier Guitar
- ↑ Psychic Garden
- ↑ Louder Sound
- ↑ AllMusic
- ↑ Psychic Garden
- ↑ Psychic Garden
- ↑ Psychic Garden
- ↑ The Aquarian
- ↑ Psychic Garden
- ↑ The Aquarian
- ↑ Metro.co.uk
- ↑ Discogs
- ↑ The Obelisk
- ↑ Metro.co.uk
- ↑ The Obelisk
- ↑ The Obelisk
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ The Obelisk
- ↑ American Songwriter via Wayback Machine
- ↑ Bearded Magazine
- ↑ Classic Rock Magazine
- ↑ Bearded Magazine
- ↑ The Obelisk
- ↑ Rock Hard Magazine
- ↑ Louder Sound
- ↑ Louder Sound
- ↑ American Songwriter
- ↑ Dead Press
- ↑ The Obelisk
- ↑ The Obelisk
- ↑ The Obelisk
- ↑ Pop Matters
- ↑ Red Light Management
- ↑ SPIN
- ↑ The Obelisk
- ↑ Flood Magazine
- ↑ Louder Sound
- ↑ The Obelisk
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ ATW Facebook
- ↑ ATW Facebook