Espers (band)

Espers
File:Espers1.jpg Espers performing in 2006
Background information
Origin	Philadelphia
Genres	Drone Folk Psychedelic Rock
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Locust Music, Drag City
Associated acts	The Valerie Project
Members	Meg Baird Helena Espvall Norman Fetter Otto Hauser John Heron Ben McConnell Brooke Sietinsons Greg Weeks
Past members	Chris Smith

Espers is a psych folk band from Philadelphia that is part of the emerging indie folk scene. They formed in 2002 as a trio of singer-songwriter Greg Weeks, Meg Baird and Brooke Sietinsons but later expanded to a sextet including Otto Hauser, Helena Espvall and Chris Smith. Their music is reminiscent of late-sixties British folk as well as many contemporary folk acts such as Six Organs of Admittance. Most of the band's members have also featured on recordings by a number of other folk artists such as Nick Castro and Vashti Bunyan and as a result have become an important part of the psych-folk revival.

They released their self-titled debut in 2004 on Locust Music and followed that with an album of cover songs, The Weed Tree, in 2005. This release featured the band's versions of songs by artists as diverse as Nico, The Durutti Column and Blue Öyster Cult. In 2006 the band released their third full-length album, II (presumably so called because it was their second album of original material), on Drag City Records. Their fourth album, III, was released on October 20, 2009.

Discography

Albums

• Espers (2004)
• The Weed Tree (2005)
• II (2006)
• III (2009)

Singles

• "Riding" / "Under The Waterfall" (7") (2005)

Compilation appearances

• The Golden Apples of the Sun (compiled by Devendra Banhart for Arthur Magazine) (2004)
  • "Byss & Abyss"
• Million Tongues Festival (compiled by Plastic Crimewave of Plastic Crimewave Sound for Arthur Magazine) (2004)
  • "Under The Waterfall"
• The 2005 Believer CD (2005) (from The Believer magazine)
  • "Firefly Refrain" (originally by Fursaxa)
• The R.E.M. Collection Disc 3 (2005) (compiled by Peter Buck; mounted on UNCUT magazine's July 2005 issue)
  • "Meadow"
• Rough Trade Shops - Counter Culture 2005 (2006)
  • "Meadow"
• Folk Off (compiled by Rob Da Bank; Sunday's Best Records) (2006)
  • "Rosemary Lane"
• Strange Folk (Albion Records) (2006)
  • "Flowery Noontide"
• Acoustic 07 (2007)
  • "Mansfield and Cyclops"
• A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding In Your Mind: Volume 1 (Compiled by Amorphous Androgynous) (2008)
  • "Mansfield and Cyclops"
• The Playlist August 2006 (2006) (from Uncut magazine)
  • "Mansfield and Cyclops"

External links

• Espers at Locust Music
• Espers at Drag City
• Interview with Greg Weeks and Chris Smith, May 2008
• Interview with Greg Weeks on band