Crooked Still is an American band consisting of vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, banjo player Gregory Liszt, bassist Corey DiMario, cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddle player Brittany Haas. They are known for their high energy, technical skill, unusual instrumentation, and innovative acoustic style.
The string band's style has been described as progressive bluegrass, Country folk, and Americana.[James Reed, Crooked Still's Aoife O'Donovan comes into her own, Boston Globe, May 20, 2012.][Linda Fahey, Favorite Sessions Aoife O'Donovan: The Voice of Crooked Still Breaks Loose, NPR, June 8, 2013.][William Ruhlmann, Profile: Crooked Still, AllMusic.] O'Donovan states that the band is playing its "own sort of continuation" on the bluegrass tradition that began in the U.S. with Bill Monroe and Jimmy Martin.[Michael Bialas, Exploring Some Strange Country With Crooked Still, Aoife O'Donovan, Huffington Post, 2010.]
History
2001–2008
O'Donovan and DiMario met at the New England Conservatory of Music in
Boston,
Massachusetts in the spring of 2001. Former member
Rushad Eggleston, who was studying cello at Berklee College of Music, and Liszt, a graduate student at
MIT, were playing music together around the same time, and when the four met that summer, they formed a band that became Crooked Still. While its members finished school, the group played various Boston venues, growing in popularity and collecting favorable reviews from the local press.
Crooked Still went on to appear at concert halls, festivals, coffeehouses, and nightclubs in 23 states and several countries. On August 22, 2006, the group released their second album, Shaken by a Low Sound.
From 2008
Cellist Rushad Eggleston performed his last show with the band on November 18, 2007, at the Iron Horse in Northampton, Massachusetts. He parted ways with Crooked Still to pursue his own music with band Tornado Rider. In January 2008 two new members joined the band: cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas, both of whom have toured in
Darol Anger's Republic of Strings. The Darol Anger connection goes further: Rushad Eggleston was in Fiddlers 4 in 2002.
The band released its first album with the new lineup,
Still Crooked in 2008, a live album in 2009, and
Some Strange Country in 2010.
2011 and beyond
In honor of their tenth anniversary together as a band, Crooked Still embarked on a major tour of the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest, and released a 7-song EP called
Friends of Fall in October 2011.
After the final show of their 2011 tour, Crooked Still took a three-year touring and recording hiatus (originally planned to be one year) for its members to pursue other musical projects.
Crooked Still performed at the FreshGrass festival in North Adams, Massachusetts, in September 2017.
In June 2018, Crooked Still songs "Little Sadie" and "Ecstasy" were featured in the gameplay trailer for The Last of Us Part II presented at E3 2018.
In April 2025, Crooked Still appeared in the HBO series adaptation of The Last of Us, credited as Brittany and the Jug Boys.
Discography
Albums
|
|
| 2004 | Hop High
-
Release date: September 14, 2004
-
Label: Footprint Records
| — |
| 2006 | Shaken by a Low Sound
-
Release date: August 22, 2006
-
Label: Signature Sounds Recordings
| — |
| 2008 | Still Crooked
-
Release date: June 24, 2008
-
Label: Signature Sounds Recordings
| — |
| 2010 | Some Strange Country
-
Release date: May 18, 2010
-
Label: Signature Sounds Recordings
| 15 |
| 2011 | Friends of Fall
-
Release date: October 11, 2011
-
Label: Signature Sounds Recordings
| — |
Live albums
|
|
| 2009 | Crooked Still Live
-
Release date: July 6, 2009
-
Label: Signature Sounds Recordings
| — |
| 2018 | Live at Grey Fox July 16, 2006
-
Release date: November 16, 2018
-
Label: Signature Sounds Recordings
| — |
|
Music videos
|
|
| 2010 | "Half of What We Know" | Grey Sky Films |
External links
