| Nate Hall | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth Name | Nate Hall |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Genres | Folk, Psychedelic Rock, Doom Metal, Post-Metal |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Vocals |
| Years active | 2003 - |
| Labels | Neurot, My Proud Mountain |
| Associated acts | U.S. Christmas, Uktala, The Poison Snake |
Nate Hall is a guitarist and vocalist from North Carolina. Though best known for his tenure as a founding member of the experimental psych band U.S. Christmas he has also been known for his solo folk endeavors since 2012. Through a career that has spanned nearly two decades he has released five studio albums with U.S. Christmas and five solo albums amid a wide range of other releases.
Biography[]
U.S. Christmas[]
- For further details feel free to view the Riffipedia page on U.S. Christmas.
U.S. Christmas (USX) started formed in 2002 with Hall one of the founding members alongside Tim Greene, Matt Johnson, John Presnell and Scott Isenhour. The bandmates mention many bands that shaped their sound: classic psychedelic, blues, guitar slingers, modern metal, doom, and sludge, as well as old country artists - Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Hawkwind, Neurosis and Caustic Resin. After slowly building a name for themselves in the North Carolina scene the band eventually composed their first studio album in late 2004 on Bad Heart Bull. With more performances through the Carolinas and Tennessee areas, the band followed up with Salt The Wound in 2006. Scott Kelly (Neurosis) got word of this album and upon hearing it quickly signed them to Neurot Recordings.
Drawing heavy influence from Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian and the natural world, Eat The Low Dogs was released via Neurot on 10 June 2008 with a North American Tour surrounding it. What would follow would be the most extensive touring cycle of the band known to date the next year, with two extensive tours of the US and Europe (Including appearances at Roadburn Festival and Scion RockFest). By 2010 the lineup would change and mutate (With Hall, Greene and Johnson being the sole original members) as the band went into the studio for their fourth album. Run Thick in The Night saw it's release on 21 September 2010 to critical praise. A follow-up in the form of a single 38-minute song entitled The Valley Path on 31 May 2011.
While the band would perform a handful of shows in 2012, the members of USX would concentrate on solo projects. Eventually the band would tour in April 2015 once again with Generation of Vipers before going on a hiatus of sorts, with the respective members concentrating on solo endeavors.
Solo Endeavors[]
When U.S. Christmas began their first hiatus Hall would begin work on a solo album, the end result being A Great River released via Neurot on 11 May 2012. His solo efforts took more of a folk/singer-songwriter vein the album would still attain praise.[1][2][3] Notably the album also featured a cover of "Kathleen" by legendary singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Hall would follow up on this on two tribute split albums. Songs of Townes Van Zandt saw release via My Proud Mountain on 20 April 2013, featuring Hall, John Dyer Baizley (Baroness), Scott Kelly (Neurosis, Shrinebuilder, etc.) and Steve Von Till (Neurosis, Harvestman, etc.). A second set of recordings entitled Songs of Townes Van Zandt Vol. II saw release the next year on 7 March 2014, featuring covers performed by Hall, Baizely and Mike Scheidt (Yob). Notably Hall worked in collaboration with Stevie Floyd (Dark Castle) and Dorthia Cottrell (Windhand) for two of those covers.
Hall would begin performing solo sets live in 2012[4] and 2013, appearing at that year's Roadburn Festival.[5] Two more solo albums in Fear of Falling (2014, Breathe Plastic) and Electric Vacuum Roar (2014, Heart & Crossbone) would see release. With the former taking more of a psychedelic rock sound Nate Hall would compose a band known as The Poison Snake with Richard Kirby and Scott Thomas. This trio would tour the United States in March 2015, just a month before U.S. Christmas would briefly re-form.
From 2015 onwards Nate Hall has been releasing solo acoustic works on his Bandcamp and Spotify pages, sometimes just singles but often EPs or even album-length material such as 2017's A Year Under A False Moon. Along with these digital-only releases came a new solo album in The Center of The Earth, released 7 December 2017 via Hypershape Records.
Selected Discography[]
With U.S. Christmas[]
- Bad Heart Bull (2004, Nomass; 2012, Play The Assassin Records)
- Salt the Wound (2006, R.A.I.G)
- Eat The Low Dogs (2008, Neurot Recordings)
- Run Thick In The Night (2010, Neurot Recordings)
- The Valley Path (2011, Neurot Recordings)
Solo Releases[]
- A Great River (Studio Album) (2012, Neurot Recordings)
- CHVE / Nate Hall (Split with CHVE) (2012, ConSouling Sounds)
- Songs of Townes Van Zandt (Split Album with Scott Kelly, Steve Von Till, John Dyer Baizley) (2013, My Proud Mountain)
- The Traveling Sun / Three Barron Eye (Split Single With Scott Kelly) (2013, Domestic Genocide)
- Fear of Falling (Studio Album) (2014, Breathe Plastic Records)
- Electric Vacuum Roar (Studio Album) (2014, Heart & Crossbone)
- Songs of Townes Van Zandt Vol. II (Split Album with John Dyer Baizley, Mike Scheidt) (2014, My Proud Mountain)
- Heat And Sway (7" Single) (2015, TYM)
- Shadow Line (Digital Single) (2015, Self-Released)
- Darlin, What Days Will Come? (Digital Single) (2016, Self-Released)
- Fly (Digital Single) (2016, Self-Released)
- River Water Dream (Digital Single) (2016, Self-Released)
- Under Spring Bones (EP) (2016, Self-Released)
- Unaka (EP) (2016, Self-Released)
- A Year Under A False Moon (Studio Album) (2017, Self-Released)
- Mountain Ballads Vol. 1 (EP) (2017, Self-Released)
- The Center of The Earth (Studio Album) (2017, Hypershape)
- Five Poems (EP) (2017, Self-Released)
Guest Appearances/Other Releases[]
- Dark Castle – Surrender To All Life Beyond Form (Studio Album; Vocals on "Stare Into Absence") (2011, Profound Lore Records)
- Uktena - Our Path To Trouble (CD EP) (2016, Hypershape Records)