THE EDGE FESTIVAL - JEFFREY LEWIS & THE JUNKYARD :: WITHERED HAND
Underground comic book artist, Moldy Peaches friend and cover designer, and anti-folk musician Jeffrey Lewis was born in New York City in November of 1975.
Lewis’ beatnik parents didn't have a television in the home, so comic books and his father's blues records were early obsessions. Although his first album bought was Whodini's Escape, high school brought an interest in the Grateful Dead (he went to 40 shows) and Nirvana.
After graduating from New York State University at Purchase (his senior thesis was on Alan Moore's graphic novel Watchmen), Lewis started making music on a guitar on loan from his father and was turned on to the more oddball sounds of the Fugs, David Peel & the Lower East Side, and the Godz.
In 1998 he could be found playing open mikes and releasing Indie-Rock Fortune Cookie, a cassette packaged with one of Lewis comic books. A CD-R compiled from the cassette landed in the hands of Rough Trade, courtesy of the recently signed Moldy Peaches, and the label issued The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane and Other Favorites in 2002. An appearance on the Moldy Peaches-compiled Antifolk Vol 1 followed, and a second album, It’s The Ones Who’ve Cracked That The Light Shines Through, appeared in 2003. Lewis toured Europe with members of the Mouldy Peaches in support of 4 Seasons, a box set featuring a comic book, a DVD, and two 7" singles.
The 2006 album City & Eastern Songs was credited to Jeffrey and his brother Jack, while 2007's 12 Crass Songs featured a dozen songs originally written and performed by the British anarchist punk band Crass. In 2009 one of Lewis' illustrations was etched into the B-side of Cornershop's comeback single "The Roll Off Characteristics (Of History in the Making)." That same year his ‘Ere Are I’ arrived, featuring the single "To Be Objectified." ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
WITHERED HAND
After playing in various bands throughout his teens, guitarist and artist Dan Willson was a principal member of four-piece Edinburgh indie band Barrichello from their inception in 1999. Barrichello released three EPs, the first self-released and the following two on Edinburgh label SL Records. The band enjoyed a measure of success, touring Scotland and the UK including a 10 date UK tour, culminating in a London show with fellow Edinburgh band Ballboy. They were awarded single of the week in The List and the last two EPs received radio play across Scotland and also on BBC Radio 1's John Peel show. The band split amicably in 2002 citing musical differences.
In 2003, Dan teamed up with childhood friend Neil Sylvester and Caroline Evans to form art-rock outfit Peanut, where Dan was able began to give his own idiosyncratic voice free reign through his song writing and accompanying drawings. They build up a loyal live following in Edinburgh, across Scotland and in London and fostered connections with bands from the New York 'anti-folk' scene, being asked to support Schwervon! and Major Matt Mason USA on live dates in Scotland. Peanut shared bills with, amongst others, The Rezillos, Uncle John and Whitelock and Hawk and a Hacksaw and played the London Antifolk Summer Festival in Islington in August 2005. Both Neil and Caroline’s external commitments and the arrival of Dan’s first child meant the band were unable to record more than demos for a projected album and they eventually went on hiatus in 2005.
Continuing to draw strength from the example of the DIY music community in New York, Dan continued working on solo material after Peanut’s demise and in 2006 debuted this more introverted and increasingly autobiographical material as a solo singer/songwriter, under the stagename Withered Hand. He quickly became a sought-after solo performer and part of a resurgence in loosely folk-based contemporary pop music in Scotland, playing shows with the likes of Frightened Rabbit, Found, Woodpigeon (Canada) and Eagleowl, as well as touring Sweden with Swedish musician Sebastian Fors. As his live set developed he began to recruit musician friends to collaborate on and embellish songs, meaning a Withered Hand performance or recording can often incorporate such luminaries of the Edinburgh alternative music scene as Neil Pennycook and Chris Bryant (Meursault), acclaimed Edinburgh drummer Alun Thomas (St Judes Infirmary, Paul Vickers and The Leg, Ballboy), cellist Hannah Shepherd, Bart Owl (Eagleowl, The Second Hand Marching Band and others) and folk singer Jo Foster (Fence Collective).
Initially experimenting with recording alone in a rudimentary home studio, Dan released some early Withered Hand demos via the internet. Versions of some of these songs went on to form the basis of his first EP,‘Religious Songs’, released jointly on DIY imprint Bear Scotland and SL Records in summer 2008. The EP received rave reviews from the internet music blogging community around the world and the support of radio stations and press across Scotland and the UK, including being profiled on BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘BBC Introducing’ podcast for new Scottish music and aired on terrestrial radio in Paris, France.
Withered Hand continues to develop an impressive live following, increasingly playing on bills with similar left-field artists of international standing, such as Americans Little Wings and Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening fame (K records), Major Matt Mason USA (olive juice music), Jeff Lewis (Rough Trade) and Scotsman Malcolm Middleton. After a barnstorming performance at last years Fence Collectives Home Game Festival in Fife he's been asked back to perform alongside the likes of King Creosote and James Yorkston and was a headline show at the last ever Triptych festival in Edinburgh and played at the inaugural Tennents Mutual festival in Stirling. Dan is also an active and supportive member of the Edinburgh DIY music community, through his involvement in the imprint Bear Scotland and his activity as occasional promoter to being one of the key figures (and poster artist) behind Edinburgh’s Retreat music festival.
After being awarded funding from the Scottish Arts Council at the end of 2008, Withered Hand embarked on recording a début album, with acclaimed US Producer and long-term admirer Kramer (Bongwater, Shimmy Disc, Low, Galaxie 500 etc) The finished album is scheduled to be released on SL Records in September 2009.
Having completed the album sessions and toured the highlands playing solo shows throughout early March, Dan returned to record a new EP with Fence Collective supremo King Creosote over the course of two days in the AIA Hall, Anstruther, Fife. This EP, titled 'You're Not Alone', will be the first joint Fence/SL release and will be released at the Fence Collective's Homegame Festival in April, where Withered Hand is making a hotly anticipated full-band appearance before heading out to Europe in May to play solo dates in Berlin, Paris, London and Amsterdam.
Aside from his career as an acclaimed songwriter and musician, Dan is also a celebrated artist, having had his graphic work exhibited nationally and internationally, commissioned by Artist Newsletter and Swedish magazine Stardust, and featured in an exhibition with cult musician Daniel Johnston. Dan recently performed a Withered Hand acoustic set at The Edinburgh Art Festival’s Artlate event at the Collective Gallery, where his work was also represented in the exhibition. He continues to develop his practice as a visual artist alongside his songwriting, designing the artwork for his releases and many of the posters and flyers for his live shows.
