The Seattle based indie rock band, ‘The Head And The Heart’ has been quickly been trending on the music scene. They are known for having a genuine sound, harmonizing vocals and rotating lead singers, kind of like Fleetwood Mac. They have two studio albums thus far their first album called “The Head And The Heart” came out in 2011 and their latests “Let’s Be Still” came out last year. They were one of the featured acts at Lalapaloosa. As Josiah Johnson,one of the band members describes it, the band has gone through a metamorphosis of sorts as their success has grown.
“The first record was very optimistic, ‘Follow your heart,’ and the second was ‘Even if you follow your heart, there are going to be some rough spots,” says Johnson, a Californian who formed the band out of a songwriting partnership with Virginia native Jonathan Russell.
At first, it was open mic performances, and one by one, Johnson and Russell collected bandmates — Kenny Hensley on piano, Charity Rose Thielen on violin, Tyler Williams on drums, and Chris Zasche on bass. The band built a following around Seattle, fans drawn by the instinctive three-part harmonies and captivating, inspirational songwriting.
“There was this period of time when we first started, and that carried over to when we recorded the first album when we weren’t particularly great, but there as a magic vibe, a purity to the first record, which I really love,” Johnson says.
The self-released, self-titled album made the band a local favorite in music-hungry Seattle and caught the attention of indie institution Sub Pop, which re-released the record in 2011 and sold nearly 300,000 copies. The heavy touring that followed helped shape the band in different ways. He explains how the second album is different. “The second one, we recorded it right after being on the road for three years, and we were feeling really tight as a band and really close as a band and knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses really well,” Johnson says. “But we were a little worn down from the road and having some growing pains.”
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