Wovenhand (also stylized Woven Hand) is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, United States, led by former

16 Horsepower 16 Horsepower was an American band based in Denver, Colorado, United States. Their music often invoked religious imagery dealing with conflict, redemption, punishment, and guilt through David Eugene Edwards's lyrics and the heavy use of traditio ...

frontman

David Eugene Edwards David Eugene Edwards (born February 24, 1968 in Englewood, Colorado) is an American musician. He is the lead singer of Wovenhand, and also the main songwriter and the principal musician on the recordings of the band. He is the former lead s ...

. Wovenhand's songs are known for their strong and unsettling Biblical references, influenced by Edwards' atypically dark approach to his

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

faith.

History

The band began in 2001 as a solo project for Edwards while 16 Horsepower was taking a temporary hiatus. Wovenhand's first live shows were performed by Edwards and multi-instrumentalist Daniel McMahon; the self-titled debut album was released in 2002 on

Glitterhouse Records Glitterhouse Records is a German independent record label and mail order company based in Beverungen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in the mid-1980s. From the late 1980s until the mid-1990s it was the European branch of the American la ...

. Performances following this record featured Edwards, McMahon, drummer Ordy Garrison and cellist Paul Fonfara. 2003 saw the release of ''Blush Music'', the score to a dance performance mostly composed of reworked material from the first record. Touring behind this album featured Shane Trost replacing Fonfara. In 2004, ''

Consider the Birds ''Consider the Birds'' is the second album (not counting the score for Blush) by David Eugene Edwards' Woven Hand. The album's title comes from the Sermon on the Mount. When asked why he chose this as his album's title, David Eugene Edwards repl ...

'' was released on the Sounds Familyre label, which has also released the previous Wovenhand releases domestically. Edwards performed the bulk of the instrumentation in the studio; he and Garrison toured behind the record as a two-piece. 16 Horsepower disbanded the following year, and Edwards further focused his attention on Wovenhand. Peter van Laerhoven, a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

guitarist, was added to the lineup, while McMahon and Trost became inactive with the group. After 2006's ''

Mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

'',

Pascal Humbert Pascal Humbert is a French bass player who is currently in Lilium and Détroit. He was previously in Tanit (1981–1985), Passion Fodder (1985–1991), 16 Horsepower (1992–1993, 1996–2005) and Wovenhand (2008–2010). Career Tanit Humbert' ...

, a founding member of

, became the band's bassist. 2008's ''Ten Stones'' was the first record from the group written and performed collaboratively – the project had thus evolved into a proper band, albeit with Edwards firmly at its head. In 2009, the band operated as a three-piece, sans Van Laerhoven. Their fifth studio album, ''The Threshingfloor'' was released in June 2010. Shortly thereafter, the group announced touring plans opening for the

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

band

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

. September 2012 saw the release of Wovenhand's sixth studio album, ''The Laughing Stalk'', produced by

Alexander Hacke Alexander Hacke (also known as Alexander von Borsig, Alex Hacke, Hacke, born 11 October 1965) is a guitarist, bass guitarist, singer, musician, record producer, writer and filmmaker from Germany. He is primarily known as a longtime member of the ...

(who along with Edwards is participating in the reunion of Australian post-punk band

Crime And The City Solution Crime & the City Solution are an Australian rock band formed in late 1977 by singer-songwriter and mainstay Simon Bonney. They disbanded in 1979 leaving only bootleg recordings and demos. In late 1983, Bonney travelled to London and in 1985 he ...

). Wovenhand's lineup for the album was changed once again, as Humbert quit and new bassist Gregory Garcia Jr. along with second guitarist Chuck French were brought in. The resulting record was described as being "the most heavy incarnation that ever existed of Wovenhand".

Musical style

Wovenhand began as a

gothic country Gothic country (sometimes referred to as gothic Americana, Southern Gothic, the Denver sound, or even simply just dark country) is a genre of country music rooted in early jazz, gospel, Americana, gothic rock and post-punk. It's lyrics focus on ...

band but over time shifted to a more rock-oriented sound, which

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

classified as "gothic Americana rock". Wovenhand's music has incorporated elements of

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

, surf,

desert blues Tishoumaren (ⵜⵉⵛⵓⵎⴰⵔⴻⵏ in Neo-Tifinagh script) or assouf, internationally known as desert blues, is a style of music from the Sahara region of northern and west Africa. Critics describe the music as a fusion of blues and rock ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

and heavy metal. Cited influences on the band's music include

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

Discography

Studio albums

Other

* ''Blush Music'' (2003) erformance score* ''Blush (Original Score)'' (2003) erformance score* ''Puur'' (2006) erformance score* ''Black of the Ink'' (2011) ook + 6-track EP re-recorded Best-of* ''Live at Roepaen'' (2012) D/2LP + DVD

References

External links

Official WebsiteOfficial Facebook PageOfficial MySpace PageWoven Hand Live
NPR Tiny Desk Concert Series {{Authority control American folk rock groups American hard rock musical groups Gothic country groups Indie rock musical groups from Colorado Musical groups from Denver Musical groups established in 2001 Deathwish Inc. artists Glitterhouse Records artists