The Lone Bellow

Claim Band

Zach Williams, the Lone Bellow’s lead singer and principal songwriter, can pinpoint just about exactly when the Brooklyn-based group serendipitously willed itself into being. It was around 9 a.m. one morning in 2010, at Dizzy’s Diner in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where the Lone Bellows guitarist and Williams’ old friend Brian Elmquist was working a shift. Williams, up to then performing as a solo artist, needed a place to try out some new songs; for a scuffling artist, the diner was as good as any rehearsal space. He asked fellow singer Kanene Pipkin, just returned to New York City from living in Beijing, to meet them at the diner and the trio did more than merely jam. With the beginnings of a repertoire and an already strong communal spirit, that fateful morning they became the Lone Bellow. As Williams recalls, “Three songs in I realized I should quit what I’m doing and just make music with these people.” And that’s what he did. The trio’s self-titled debut disc is exuberant in its playing, welcoming in its attitude. Though the lyrics have a melancholic undercurrent, the tracks are more often rave-ups than ruminations, with swelling three-part harmonies and rousing group-sung choruses, especially on the electric guitar-driven “The One You Should’ve Let Go” and “Green Eyes and A Heart of Gold,” a we-will-survive anthem that could be about a family or a band. Indeed, there is a strong familial feel to The Lone Bellow, a recurring theme of inclusiveness.

That sentiment lies at the heart of the album and Williams’ own career to date. The native Georgian first came to songwriting via near tragedy. While still living down south, Williams’ young wife was catastrophically injured in a horseback riding accident. Physicians initially told Williams that, at best, his wife would leave the hospital a paraplegic. But doctors at the pioneering Shepard Center in Atlanta thought otherwise and after months of rehab there she ultimately regained the ability to walk. Throughout the ordeal, Williams had been scribbling his thoughts into a journal; good friend Caleb Clardy, co-writer of “Teach Me To Know,” suggested he turn his writing into songs. The couple’s friends had rallied around them, practically living in the hospital waiting room with Williams, organically becoming the support group he needed. Williams admits, “That was the first time I really experienced somebody trying their best to carry someone else’s burden. It was very moving to me. I was going to classes on how to bathe and feed my wife, and I was trying to process all the fear and anger and the numbness. I started reading my friends these journal entries. I was writing in a kind of rhyming form because it helped to keep my mind focused. Caleb said, these are songs, man, you need to learn how to play the guitar and sing at he same time.”

Having experienced something close to a miracle, a revitalized Williams and his wife decided to head to New York City and pursue their creative paths in earnest. Several of their friends, equally motivated, chose to follow, and they reformed a tightly knit community in Brooklyn, where everyone settled Williams initially worked as a solo artist, backed at times by a hired band. Two years ago, following a soul-searching trip he’d taken with his wife, Williams re-emerged with a stack of deeply personal songs -- tender but frank tales of romantic rupture and hard-fought redemption -- rooted in the country, folk and gospel of his Southern youth, and that’s the material he brought to the diner.

Along with the core group of Williams, Pipkin, and fellow Georgian Elmquist, the Lone Bellow’s recording and touring ensemble now includes Ben Mars on bass, Brian Murphy on keyboards, Matt Knapp on lap steel and electric guitar, Jason Pipkin on banjo and mandolin, and Brian Griffin on drums. After a warm-up gig at Brooklyn’s Roots Café, Williams got a call from The Civil Wars, the Grammy Award Winning duo that he’d befriended while they were playing at the Lower East Side’s Rockwood Music Hall. They asked if he and his new cohorts would open for them in Philadelphia: “We rehearsed for three days straight to try and get our act together and went to Philly and played our first real show as a group. It was so life giving, everything that everyone was playing had the overarching values of honesty, friendship and vulnerability, I felt like we really connected with this group of people in Philadelphia who’d never heard of us before.”

Willams met with Civil Wars producer Charlie Peacock when the Lone Bellow played the Bowery Ballroom and took him to the Rockwood, the modest but well-regarded two-room venue that Williams had long considered his musical home: ”When Charlie came up, I said, let’s walk around the block. I want to show you the venue. The owner, Ken Rockwood, was there and they just hit it off. Charlie was walking around, snapping his fingers close to walls, looking at the glass windows in front of the large room, and he said, ‘You should make your record here’. Ken gave us the room for three days and three nights. We lived there. Our eight-piece band recorded twelve songs there and Charlie magically made them something worth listening to. I will never forget that experience.”

Peacock captured the spirit and the sound of these individuals, both at their most confident and their most vulnerable. Their recording of “Teach Me To Know,” an infectious folk/gospel sing-along, was the by-product of some spontaneous late-night carousing, according to Williams: “We were ten songs in, I was exhausted, my vocals were completely gone, it was like one a.m and it started pouring down rain. Our piano player Brian ran outside and lied down on the sidewalk. So we all ran outside. Two of the band members started dancing in the rain and the rest of us started running around Allen Street with our shirts off. It was a beautiful moment. And while we were out there being dumb, Charlie set up the mics completely differently. When we came back inside, soaking wet from the rain, he said, we’re recording ‘Teach Me to Know’ right now. And we laid it down. And that was the way it was making this record. It was all about capturing moments. We didn’t play to a click; we were just in it. It was absolutely wonderful. I felt like the city just soaked through the windows into the recording.”

Afterwards, Williams, Kanene Pipkin and Elmquist joined Peacock down in Nashville for overdubs and fixes with some additional players at his studio, the Art House – an abandoned old church he had retrofitted on a small piece of land – and that location proved to be as well-suited to the band’s sensibility as the Rockwood. The results of their efforts, the Lone Bellow’s debut, are earnest, inspiring and fun. Everyone listening – and undoubtedly singing and stomping along – will surely feel like part of the family too.

The Lone Bellow - Love Songs for Losers Tour

The Lone Bellow / BAILEN at Memorial Hall

Jon Calderas

Saturday, October 29, 2022

The Lone Bellow

Jon Calderas

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Dawes & The Lone Bellow

Photos of Dawes & The Lone Bellow at The Taft Theatre courtesy of Rubato Photo

Rubato Photo

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

The Lone Bellow

Photos of The Lone Bellow :: Courtesy of KP Photography

KP Photography

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

MusicNOW Festival :: Sunday, March 15

Photos of Perfume Genius, The Lone Bellow, & Mina Tindle at Memorial Hall - MusicNOW Festival. Photos courtesy of Rubato Photo.

Rubato Photo

Sunday, March 15, 2015

The Lone Bellow

Photos of The Lone Bellow from the 20th Century Theater :: Courtesy of KP Photography

KP Photography

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Buckle Up :: Bands :: Saturday

Buckle Up 2014 :: Bands :: Saturday - Photos courtesy of KP Photography, Amy Painter Photography, Jewels Yoga Photography, and Michael Gabbard Photography.

KP Photography, Jewels Huber Photography, Amy Painter Heringer, Michael Gabbard Photography

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Buckle Up 2014 :: The Fan Experience :: Saturday

The Fan Experience :: Buckle Up 2014 :: Friday Photos courtesy of KP Photography, Michael Gabbard Photography, and Amy Painter Photography.

KP Photography, Amy Painter Heringer, Michael Gabbard Photography

Saturday, July 19, 2014

The Lone Bellow Perform at Memorial Hall

Known for their transcendent harmonies, serious musicianship, and outstanding live shows,The Lone Bellow to perform with special guest Robert Ellis on Wednesday, November 28, in the Longworth- Anderson Series at Memorial Hall.

Courtney Phenicie

Monday, October 29, 2018, 8:51am

Interview: Dawes

Interviewing bands is always fun, interesting and a bit nerve-wracking, especially when it’s a band that I’m a huge fan of. Dawes has consistently put out stellar albums, start to finish, and seem to get better with each album. Their most recent release All Your Favorite Bands was...

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Monday, June 27, 2016, 2:09am

CincyMusic.com’s Complete Guide to MusicNOW 2015

When Bryce Dessner of The National started MusicNOW in 2006, it was a small two-night event held at the Contemporary Arts Center. Over the past decade, it’s become a landmark annual affair, internationally renowned for commissioning new works by classical music’s most innovative...

Nat Tracey-Miller

Tuesday, March 10, 2015, 9:52am

CSO Announces Details of MusicNOW Festival Collaboration

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and Music Director Louis Langrée announce exciting new details surrounding the second annual groundbreaking artistic collaboration with the MusicNOW Festival and Artistic Director Bryce Dessner. On Friday, March 13, 2015 (8 p.m.), the CSO opens the...

Courtney Phenicie

Wednesday, January 7, 2015, 4:35am

The National, CSO, Sufjan Stevens & more at MusicNOW

The tenth anniversary of Cincinnati's MusicNOW Festival is nothing short of amazing. This year the festival will feature The National, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Caroline Shaw, Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, Daníel Bjarnason, Will Butler, So Percussion, Mina Tindle, Perfume...

Ian Bolender

Monday, December 15, 2014, 6:57am

The Lone Bellow Make Their Own Way

The Lone Bellow, Zach Williams, Brian Elmquist, and Kanene Pipkin, have known each other almost all their lives, but they have only been singing together as The Lone Bellow for about four years now. They all grew up in Georgia, but originally only Williams pursued a career in music. He began...

Courtney Phenicie

Tuesday, December 2, 2014, 4:08am

The Lone Bellow Community and Moments

The Lone Bellow are Zach Williams, Brian Elmquist, and Kanene Pipkin they call New York home and are currently on tour for their debut record which is self-titled. Zach and Brian have been good friends for a long time. Back in 2010, at Dizzy’s Diner in Park Slope, Brooklyn Brian was working a...

Moose Gronholm

Thursday, July 17, 2014, 7:50am

Full Buckle Up Festival Lineup + Schedule Announced!

The inaugural three-day Buckle Up Music Festival unveiled their full schedule and lineup including Alabama, Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, The Band Perry and many more! The event takes place along the Ohio River at Yeatmans Cove and Sawyer Point July 18-20....

Courtney Phenicie

Tuesday, March 11, 2014, 3:00am

Old Crow Medicine Show & more added to Buckle Up!

Old Crow Medicine Show, David Nail, and Eric Paslay join Alabama, The Band Perry, Eli Young Band, Jamey Johnson, Natalie Stovall and the Drive, J.T. Hodges, and The Lone Bellow for the inaugural Buckle Up Music Festival July 18-20! The festival will announce the complete list of artists with the...

Courtney Phenicie

Friday, February 28, 2014, 2:00am

Willie Nelson & Jamey Johnson added to Buckle Up!

Willie Nelson, Jamey Johnson, and The Railers join Alabama, The Band Perry, Eli Young Band, Natalie Stovall and the Drive, J.T. Hodges, and The Lone Bellow for the inaugural Buckle Up Music Festival July 18-20! The festival will continue to roll out artist announcements in the coming weeks....

Courtney Phenicie

Thursday, January 30, 2014, 2:00am

Buckle Up adds The Band Perry & more!

The Buckle Up Music Festival has just announced that The Band Perry and Natalie Stovall and the Drive will join Alabama, Eli Young Band, J.T. Hodges, and The Lone Bellow July 18-20. The festival will continue to roll out artist announcements in the coming weeks. Buckle Up Music Festival is...

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Wednesday, January 22, 2014, 3:00am

Buckle Up Music Festival releases first set of acts

The Buckle Up Music Festival is going to release sets of artists periodically over the coming weeks. The first set announced today include Alabama, Eli Young Band, J.T. Hodges, and The Lone Bellow. This brand new music festival will be held at Cincinnati’s Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove July...

Courtney Phenicie

Friday, January 17, 2014, 2:04am