Elliott Brood

Infobox musical artist
Name = Elliott Brood


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Origin = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genre = alternative country
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Label = Weewerk
Six Shooter
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URL = [http://www.elliottbrood.ca/ elliottbrood.ca]
Current_members = Mark Sasso
Casey Laforet
Stephen Pitkin
Past_members =

Elliott Brood is a three-piece alternative country band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, consisting of Mark Sasso on lead vocals, guitar, banjo, ukelele and harmonica, Casey Laforet on guitar, backing vocals, bass pedals, keys and ukelele and Stephen Pitkin on percussion, sampler and backing vocals. The band bills its own style as "deathcountry".

History

Members Mark Sasso and Casey Laforet grew up together in Windsor, and began playing as a band after moving to Toronto following high school. They played their first show in 2002 with two other musicians at Toronto club Holy Joes, although Sasso and Laforet have disagreed in the press about whether that show was played under the name Token Hillbillies or Mark Sasso and the Sassettes. [ [http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=123&csid2=778&fid1=32036 "Elliott Brood: Building a History"] , "Exclaim!", July 2008.]

Although the two other musicians dropped out of the band's lineup after only a few shows, Sasso and Laforet continued as a duo, hooking up with producer Stephen Pitkin to record their first EP, "Tin Type". The EP was released in January 2004 by weewerk Records, and came packaged in a brown paper bag containing a handmade photobook done in the style of the American Old West. [cite web| last =Ladouceur| first =Liisa| title =Riding the rails with Toronto roots-rock myth-makers Elliott Brood| publisher =eye weekly| date =2005-10-13| url =http://www.eyeweekly.com/eye/issue/issue_10.13.05/music/elliottbrood.php]

Pitkin produced "Tin Type", but did not officially become a band member until the band released its first LP, "Ambassador", on Six Shooter Records in 2005. The entire record was recorded in an abandoned slaughterhouse [cite web| last =Horan| first =Andrew| title =Death Country comes to town| publisher =Scene and Heard| date =2006| url =http://www.sceneandheard.ca/article.php?id=1573&morgue=1] , and was named for the Ambassador Bridge which connects Windsor with Detroit.

The band released its second full length album, "Mountain Meadows", in 2008.

One notable aspect of the band's live performance is that Pitkin uses a large plastic suitcase in lieu of a bass drum, which produces a similar but subdued effect. [cite web| last =Rolfe| first =Chris| title =In the Brood| publisher =eye weekly| date =2004-08-12| url =http://www.eyeweekly.com/eye/issue/issue_08.12.04/music/elliottbrood.php]

Discography

Albums and EPs

* 2004: "Tin Type"
* 2005: "Ambassador"
* 2008: "Mountain Meadows"

ingles

* 2005: "Second Son"
* 2005: "The Bridge"

Videos

* 2004: "Cadillac Dust" – "Tin Type"
* 2004: "Only at Home" – "Tin Type"
* 2005: "Second Son" – "Ambassador"
* 2005: "The Bridge" – "Ambassador"
* 2007: "Oh, Alberta" - "Tin Type" (not yet released)

DVD

* 2007: "Backwood Sessions"Includes music videos (The Bridge, Second Son), Karaokee (Oh, Alberta),unreleased song "Gentle Temper" and concert footage from 2004 (Running time: 20 Minutes)

Awards

* 2006: "Ambassador" – Rising Star Award: Group 2006 [cite web| title =Galaxie Celebrates Canadian Music Week 2006| publisher =CBC| date =March 2, 2006| url =http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/newsreleases/20060302.shtml]

Nominations

* 2006: "Ambassador" – Juno Award –

Instruments

*Mark SassoGuitar: Gibson L-OO AcousticBanjo: Unknown brandUkelele: Unknown

*Casey LaforetGuitar: Gibson LGOBass Pedals: Roland Bass keys (played with feet)

*Stephen PitkinDrums: UnknownSuitcase: Unknown

References

External links

* [http://www.elliottbrood.ca/ Elliott Brood] official site
* [http://www.sixshooterrecords.com/six_site/artists/art_eb2.html Elliott Brood] on Six Shooter Records
* [http://www.weewerk.com/ Weewerk]
* [http://snowsuitsounds.blogspot.com/2006/09/elliott-brood.html Snowsuit Sounds interview] Mark Sasso looks back on his year
* [http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=114&csid2=946&fid1=27354 "Exclaim! Magazine" interview with Elliott Brood] By Vish Khanna
* [http://pastthepages.ca/080910/arts2.html Interview with Casey Laforet in The Lance]