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The Lonesome Trio Debut Album for Acclaimed Acoustic Trio To Be Released June 16

May 7, 2015

Nashville, Tenn. (April 30, 2015) – The Lonesome Trio, featuring Ed Helms, Ian Riggs, and Jacob Tilove, is set to release its long-anticipated self-titled debut album June 16 on Sugar Hill Records. The album, announced yesterday on Rolling Stone Country, blends acoustic folk, bluegrass and a hint of lovelorn country.

The group features guitar/banjo player Ed Helms, bassist Ian Riggs, and mandolinist Jacob Tilove, who have been creating music together for over twenty years after meeting at Oberlin College in the early ‘90s. Since then, their lives and careers have gone in wildly different directions – with Helms a successful actor, Riggs a full-time musician, and Tilove an architectural historian. But playing music and writing songs always brought them together. This is their first full-length album release.

Music truly is the tie that binds these three old friends, which is why this album – a chance for the world to finally hear the songs the trio has shared and tinkered with for years – is simply called The Lonesome Trio.

The Lonesome Trio is a set of 12 original songs recorded with Sugar Hill’s own Vice President of A&R Gary Paczosa (Alison Krauss, Steep Canyon Rangers, Sarah Jarosz) acting as engineer and co-producer. To create the record, the band chose to spend two weeks immersed in writing and recording at the Echo Mountain studios in Asheville, North Carolina.

Despite a wealth of talented friends the band could have called upon to play on this record (Punch Brothers’ Chris “Critter” Eldridge and Noam Pikelny were among the biggest cheerleaders for The Lonesome Trio’s recording adventure), all instruments were played by the core three group members. The instrumentation features the traditional guitar, mandolin, bass, and banjo, but also incorporates vibraphone, piano, organ, and autoharp.

“We decided right out of the gate that the three of us needed to do the whole thing. But we opened the door to lots of additional instruments and layers,” says Helms. “The only rule was that we do it ourselves. I’m proud of that. It was more important than any crisp perfection in the execution and I just love it. That’s our spirit. There is no sound on that album that didn’t come from the three of us.”

Previous highlights include the Newport Folk Festival, regular appearances at NYC’s Rockwood Music Hall and Los Angeles’ Largo, and, for the third year running, they will be part of The Bluegrass Situation Superjam at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee. The band will embark on a set of dates in June, which includes stops in Nashville, New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, among others.

The Lonesome Trio is available on Sugar Hill Records June 16.

The Lonesome Trio Tracklisting:
1. Asheville City Skyline
2. Pigeon’s Foot
3. Appalachia Apologia
4. Whiskey Drink
5. River in the Gutter
6. The House Song (Sung by the House)
7. Mr. Fortune
8. Kerhonkson Blues
9. High Road Low Road
10. All Gone to Hell
11. Rising Tide of Love
12. But Tomorrow

Tour Dates:
06.04.2015 Alexandria, VA – The Birchmere
06.06.2015 New York, NY – Rockwood Music Hall -Stage 2
06.07.2015 Nashville, TN – 3rd & Lindsley – WRLT Sunday Night
06.08.2015 Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
06.11.2015 Cambridge, MA – Club Passim
06.12.2015 Chicago, IL – SPACE
06.14.2015 Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo
06.16.2015 Los Angeles, CA – Largo at the Coronet

thelonesometrio.com