The Low Anthem In Concert

The Low Anthem makes music that's perfect for reflective spaces. The band recorded the rustic mix of blues, folk and hymns on its previous album, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, in an empty cabin. The group's follow-up, Smart Flesh, was recorded in a dilapidated pasta-sauce factory in Rhode Island. So it's no surprise that The Low Anthem chose a 100-year-old synagogue in Washington, D.C., as the site for a live performance. This concert was recorded live at the historic 6th and I Synagogue.

The Low Anthem formed in Rhode Island in 2006 and now features Ben Knox Miller, Jeff Prystowsky, Jocie Adams and Mat Davidson. The group self-released its debut, What the Crow Brings, in 2007, and followed it with Oh My God, Charlie Darwin less than a year later. Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Monsters of Folk) was brought on to mix The Low Anthem's latest album in a makeshift factory studio.

"The space was really the main instrument for the whole record," Miller says. "The resonance was chilling. Everything after that was a secondary instrument — a choice of what tool we used to activate this beautiful instrument that we were inhabiting."

The Low Anthem captured the feel of that space during its live performance at the 6th and I Synagogue in D.C. The show is part of our ongoing series of live concert webcasts from All Songs Considered and host Bob Boilen.