Band of Horses Run to Beach

by | May 8, 2007

According to KEXP’s John in the Morning, Seattle indie band Band of Horses has relocated to Mt. Pleasant, SC, a suburb of Charleston.

Last Sept., Charleston City Paper previewed the band’s appearance at Village Tavern. In that peice, readers learn that guitarist/vocalist Ben Bridwell grew up in Irmo, S.C., just outside of Columbia.

He lived in Charleston for a short time, suffering a string of bad luck.

“There was a fire… I burnt down a house — accidentally of course — then I got hit by a car,” he remembers. “This all happened within the same couple of weeks. And then I got thrown into jail. I was like, ‘Shit. Maybe I’ve got to move.'”

Bridwell ended up in Seattle, homeless, and sleeping in the back of a Ryder truck. A popular local music venue, the Crocodile Cafe, hired him with a sleeping bag on his back. He started as a dishwasher and saved his tips, stuffing them into a hollowed out speaker. With that seed money Bridwell started his own label, Brown Records, and released the first Carissa’s Wierd album.

Bridwell also says, “I’ve been up here in Seattle for 10 years, so I’m anxious to get back home. I just love all the people, and the humid weather. It is just a break from the rest of the country and I love it.”