The Low Anthem

The Rhode Island band's restless experimentation and ever-changing arrangements reflect the disparate interests and careers (art, Americana and technology) of its three members.

Half a century after it was founded, the Newport Folk Festival is celebrating its 50th birthday with an eclectic mix of artists, from towering figures like Pete Seeger and Joan Baez to Neko Case, The Decemberists and Mavis Staples. NPR Music will be there to webcast and broadcast the full slate of concerts, with dozens of live performances starting at noon ET on Saturday. All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen recently spoke with festival producer Jay Sweet about what's in store for the weekend celebration.

The Rhode Island band performs songs from its breakthrough release, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, on this 25th-anniversary special of Mountain Stage. Since this performance, the trio's fame has increased: It signed a label deal, and is currently touring with Ray LaMontagne.

The Rhode Island band The Low Anthem traffics in pure Americana, crafting roots-rock that sounds unadorned and unmistakably sincere. Hear The Low Anthem perform live in concert from WXPN and World Café Live in Philadelphia.

On its sophomore album, The Low Anthem introduces Oh My God, Charlie Darwin with a guitar strumming gently under a falsetto voice. It then echoes to a shimmer. The disc offers an inventive and surprising survey of American folk and roots music, featuring everything from Appalachian ballads to full-throated bluesy stomps.

The Rhode Island band traffics in pure Americana, crafting roots-rock that sounds unadorned and unmistakably sincere. In this session with host David Dye, the group talks about recording on a nearly abandoned island off the coast of its home state.

On its sophomore album, The Low Anthem introduces Oh My God, Charlie Darwin with a guitar strumming gently under a falsetto voice. It then echoes to a shimmer. The disc offers an inventive and surprising survey of American folk and roots music, featuring everything from Appalachian ballads to full-throated bluesy stomps.

Half a century after it was founded, the Newport Folk Festival is celebrating its 50th birthday with an eclectic mix of artists, from towering figures like Pete Seeger and Joan Baez to Neko Case, The Decemberists and Mavis Staples. NPR Music will be there to webcast and broadcast the full slate of concerts, with dozens of live performances starting at noon ET on Saturday. All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen recently spoke with festival producer Jay Sweet about what's in store for the weekend celebration.

Just past the halfway point of 2009, we're already thinking about the best music of the year. All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen wants your picks, but in the meantime, he's selected his three favorite songs from The Low Anthem, Fanfarlo and Patrick Watson.

The Low Anthem makes Americana-inspired songs that are beautifully delicate, with an edge. Check out the band's new CD Oh My God, Charlie Darwin. Also on the program: The San Francisco-based folk-rock quartet The Dry Spells; the love, loss and redemption of singer Diana Jones; Malaysian artist Zee Avi; a new Danger Mouse-produced album from The Shortwave Set; a remastered classic from the power pop group Big Star; and the psychedelic sounds of Hopewell.

The Low Anthem's slow-moving, nostalgic "To Ohio" is about leaving a city (and a lover) behind, with Ben Knox Miller lamenting that "once you've known love, you don't know how to find love." But there's an underpinning of hope and optimism to the song, even as Miller stares down the possibility of disappointment.

Three albums in, The Low Anthem again proves itself a quintessential purveyor of rootsy rock. Oh My God, Charlie Darwin celebrates the band's influences — Tom Waits, Neil Young, Bob Dylan — and captures The Low Anthem in a makeshift studio.

It's common for artists these days to shun traditional song structures. They take pains to deconstruct straight folk or pop standards for a more eclectic mashup of acoustic and electronic instrumentation and beats. But Rhode Island duo The Low Anthem keeps it real with an authentic old-school folk that digs deep into the Americana past.

The Low Anthem's slow-moving, nostalgic "To Ohio" is about leaving a city (and a lover) behind, with Ben Knox Miller lamenting that "once you've known love, you don't know how to find love." But there's an underpinning of hope and optimism to the song, even as Miller stares down the possibility of disappointment.

Three albums in, The Low Anthem again proves itself a quintessential purveyor of rootsy rock. Oh My God, Charlie Darwin celebrates the band's influences — Tom Waits, Neil Young, Bob Dylan — and captures The Low Anthem in a makeshift studio.