This week is all about Band of Horses. With a big show happening this Friday at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and the release of their live acoustic album (which you can stream below) just days ago – BOH is on a roll.

The Begininning
2004 brought the demise of one band and the birth of another. Carissa’s Weird was a group that included current BOH front-man Ben Bridwell, Chris Early and Tim Meinig. The group broke up and those three went on to make a new band known simply as Horses. Not long after forming the new band, former Carissa’s Weird band leader Mat Brooke joined the crew as well. They started to gain attention from Sub Pop after opening for Iron & Wine during a string of shows in the Seattle area. Somewhere along the way, they changed their name to Band of Horses. In 2005, they caught the recording bug and released their Tour EP which was only available at live shows and on Sub Pop’s site. They went into the studio to record their debut full length Everything All the Time, later in 2005. The album was released on March 25th, 2006. Soon after its release there was a personality clash in the band and both Early and Meinig left the group. This started an ongoing rotation in the line up for the next few years. The albums lead single “The Funeral” was popular enough to land them a spot on the Late Show with David Letterman with band member Mat Brooke missing their performance. In July of 2006 Brooke left the band and went on to create Grand Archives, who also signed to Sub Pop and released two albums. Band of Horses struck while the iron was hot after the success of their debut album, and continued to pump out quality albums at a steady pace. In 2010 the group had found what has become their current line up Ben Bridwell, Ryan Monroe, Tyler Ramsay, Bill Reynolds and Creighton Barret.

 
Achievements
Although their first record was a critics favourite, it wasn’t as commercially successful as the albums that followed. Their sophomore LP Cease To Begin reached #35 on the Billboard 200 Chart. It was also voted #9 and #47 on Paste and Rolling Stone magazines Best Albums of 2007 list. Band of Horses’ third record Infinite Arms reached #7 on the Billboard 200 Chart and was nominated at the Grammys for Best Alternative Album. The record was also featured on several year end best of lists including Rolling Stone, Filter and Paste. Their latest full length record Mirage Rock peaked at #13 on the Billboard top 200 and snagged the #19 spot on Rolling Stone’s list of the Best Albums in 2012.

Discography
Tour EP (2005)
Everything All the Time (2006)
Cease to Begin (2007)
Infinite Arms (2010)
Mirage Rock (2012)
Acoustic at the Ryman (2014)