Pinetop Seven is an American band from Chicago, Illinois. The group initially revolved around three core members, supplemented by instruments such as double bass,

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

; more recent recordings have a more fluid lineup and increasingly orchestral textures. The group is a key representative of the Chicago alt country musical scene.

History

Bandmembers Darren Richard and Charles Kim first met at Vanderbilt University, and began playing music on the

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club scene starting in 1990; in 1994 they moved to Chicago and formed Pinetop Seven. Biography Allmusic.com After adding Ryan Hembrey to the lineup in 1995, the band began touring, and eventually landed a record deal with Truckstop Records, who began releasing the band's material in 1997. 1998's ''Rigging the Toplights'' featured

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

work from fellow Chicagoan Ken Vandermark. In 2000, Charles Kim left the band, and the group expanded to a larger ensemble featuring more orchestral musical textures, beginning with 2000's ''Bringing Home the Last Great Strike''. Their 2005 release ''The Night's Bloom'' and its subsequent sessions release, ''Beneath Confederate Lake'', feature further orchestral exploration, as well as a revamped core of members, featuring original member Richard, trumpeter Nate Walcott,

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

Melissa Bach, bassist Andy Rader, guitarist Mack Hagood, and drummer Ned Folkerth. Throughout its career, the band has garnered considerable critical acclaim from outlets such as Pitchfork Media, NPR radio, One Times One, The ''

Orlando Weekly ''Orlando Weekly'' is a liberal progressive alternative newsweekly distributed in the Greater Orlando area of Florida. Every Thursday, 40,000 issues of the paper are distributed to more than 1,100 locations across Orange, Osceola and Seminole coun ...

'', Paste Magazine, and others. A few months after the release of ''Beneath Confederate Lake'', Richard enrolled in

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

, and the group went on hiatus. Richard was working as a lawyer in the music industry.Former Rocker with Pinetop Seven playing up musical skill set in business law career
''Columbus Business First'', October 11, 2010.

Discography

*''Pinetop Seven'' ( Truckstop Records, 1997) *''Rigging the Toplights'' (Truckstop/ Atavistic Records, 1998) *''No Breath in the Bellows'' EP (Truckstop/Atavistic, 1998) *''Bringing Home the Last Great Strike'' (Atavistic, 2000) *''Lest We Forget'' (2001) *''The Night's Bloom'' ( Sky Records/ Empyrean Records, 2005) *''Beneath Confederate Lake'' (Sky/Empyrean, 2006)

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Chicago American alternative country groups Musical groups established in 1994 Atavistic Records artists