Lambchop

Lambchop are perhaps the greatest (and biggest) American rural ensemble of all time, and one of the most significant alt-country acts of the Nineties, on a par with Wilco and Calexico. But while the former, at least in their early days, leaned toward a strongly urban songwriting style influenced by the great rock bands of the Sixties and Seventies, and the latter gave the breadth of a grand, cosmopolitan western soundtrack to a mixed-blood, “mexicali” frontier sound, Kurt Wagner's group is the author of a clean, airy, unhurried country music that combines the formal composure of their roots (Nashville) with a neoclassical, orchestral slant (similar to, though with a more frugal and subdued setup than, the Penguin Cafè Orchestra), thickened and darkened by a strong jazz component (somewhat in the manner of The Art Ensemble Of Chicago) reminiscent of the American tradition of noir films.

The band has never had a fixed line-up, but rather a fluid collective of musicians revolving around a creative focal point embodied by frontman Kurt Wagner. Their music has no fixed genre of its own and ranges across country, soul, jazz, and virtually every conceivable type of contemporary music.
The embryo of Lambchop took shape in Nashville in 1986 as a simple trio made up of Wagner, guitarist Jim Watkins, and bassist Marc Trovillion. Originally called Posterchild, the group self-produced and released a series of cassettes titled “I’m F*cking Your Daugther”.

Over time Lambchop's line-up expanded: in 1992 they released the single “An Open Fresca + A Moist Towelette” together with Crop Circle Hoax, and in 1993 “Nine” for the Merge label. Their debut album “I Hope You’re Sitting Down (aka Jack’s Tulips)” came out a year later and features one of their fans' favorite singles, “Soaky In The Pooper”.
In 1996 “How I Quit Smoking” was released, followed by the EP “Hank”. The real turning point came with the 1997 album “Thriller”, with which the Nashville band introduced the sheer eclecticism that would go on to define later projects as well, including “What Another Man Spills” (1998), the concept album “Nixon” (2000), the compilation “Tools In The Dryer”, and the studio album “Is A Woman” (2002).

The first decade of the 2000s saw Lambchop tackle their most ambitious project yet: the simultaneous 2004 release of two albums, “Aw C’Mon” and “No, You C’mon”, for which the Nashville band brought in a full string section for the recording.
The following year came the EP “CoLAB”, a musical experiment for which Lambchop joined forces with the electronic duo Hands Off Cuba, followed by “The Decline Of Country & Western Civilization” and “Damaged” (2006). 2008 saw the release of “OH (Ohio)“, followed by their eleventh album “Mr. M.“, which features eleven songs that set out to tell the story of life and loss.
In 2012 Wagner unveiled the side project HeCTA, whose musical building blocks would go on to shape Lambchop's next project, “FLOTUS” (2016). Three years later “This (Is What I Wanted To Tell You)” brought the band's sound even closer to electronic territory, aided by the heavy use of autotune on Wagner's voice.

“Trip” (2020), on the other hand, gathers six cover songs chosen by the various members of the group.
In 2022 came “The Bible“, Kurt Wagner's new testament, moving between eccentric alt-country trajectories and jazz shadings.

Kurt Wagner has always had a fondness for sonic rarefaction, an expressive essentialism that is especially appreciable in many of Lambchop's live performances. It's no surprise, then, that on “Punching The Clown” (2026) he pares down the available musical elements even further: guitar, bass, banjo, and two gospel choirs conducted by Blake Morgan (the London Choir and the Eau Claire Vocal Sextet). No frills, no creative strategizing: these twelve songs, forty-eight minutes of pure harmonic and lyrical enchantment, are inspired by Kurt Wagner's unexpected passion for the choral singing of the Scottish Appalachian tradition.