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Artist
American Mars
12+ albums
pop rockindie popalternativedetroitDetroit Rock
about
American Mars is: Thomas Trimble (vocals, guitar) David Feeny (pedal steel, guitar, backing vocals, keyboards) Garth Girard (upright bass, electric bass, backing vocals) Alex Trajano (drums) Since its inception in the late nineties, American Mars has been a musical anomaly in their hometown of Detroit. In a town often passed over by touring Americana acts and dominated by garage and punk, the band has persevered for nearly a decade with its unique brand of atmospheric roots-influenced rock. American Mars’ 2003 release, No City Fun, combined indie-rock elements with Eno/Lanois-influenced soundscapes. Reviewers compared the band’s music to such diverse artists as Joe Henry, the Dream Syndicate, Tom Petty, and Blue Nile while their emotional and cathartic live shows earned them support slots for 16 Horsepower, The National, Clem Snide, Tim Easton, Elbow, Magnolia Electric Company, and The Black Heart Procession. On the group’s latest record, Western Sides, American Mars has embraced a more direct approach to both songwriting and its sense of theme and place. Western Sides covers ample ground in its 11 songs, from the lonesome grace of “Long Walk Home,” to the cutting defiance of “Democracity,” and the whispered elegy of “Sunray,” but under the direction of the band’s pedal steel player and producer David Feeny (Blanche, Loretta Lynn, The White Stripes), the band’s ranging impulses are brought together to create something more than the sum of its songs. Says Feeny, “O
