Harlowe and the Great North Woods began writing original material during the winter of 2009, while members were traveling as supporting instrumentalists with various other bands. In the spring of 2010, they began to record their first collection of songs on a tape machine purchased from a goodwill. The tracks were recorded on this machine in various locations, from a childhood home in Los Angeles, to an apartment downtown Portland, to recording engineer Tyler Hawkins’ woodshed studio in the orchards of northern California. The tape tracks were then compiled and mixed by Scott Barwick at the Origami Lounge. Since then, they have been playing shows throughout the western united states in support of their self-titled EP that was released with the help of Zach Zeller and the Around Town Collective.
Harlowe and the Great North Woods will begin recording a debut studio full length record with producer Scott Barwick this coming January, to be released in 2012.
PRESS:
“with a salt-of-the-earth, working-man type of sound, the band overwhelmingly benefited by their mixture of acoustic ballads” -Oregon Music News
“[with] orchestral and sweeping acoustic mastery, this tight ensemble brings a modern sensibility to traditional folk”
-Los Angeles Downtown News
“delicate and filled with varying layers of strings, harmonizing vocals, and a level of genuine emotional delivery that truly sets them apart amid the sea of indie folk acts that dwell here in the Northwest” -Tonegazer
“hypnotic blend of warm vocals and wistful instrumentation. The perfect soundtrack for a cold winter night” -Future Sounds
“far more than an introspective folk singer with a guitar” -News & Review
“There is a feeling of incredible predestination in this band. It seems possible to me that a hundred years ago people got on boats and people met and people had babies and formed lives so this band could live. They feel as large as actual great woods situated in the North and yet they fit a tiny shed. It is astonishing, this life and this music.” -Folkhive
“Recorded in a Portland apartment, Los Angeles home, and a woodshed studio amongst the orchards of Northern California, this debut’s soaring vocal harmonies all drip with the resonance and reverberations of their recording spaces. It’s a sound both intimate and wide open. ….Songs like ‘Roses’ and ‘Mason Jars’ breathe with a weathered and richly-shaped tone, as casual and natural as they are timeless” -Everybody Taste