Monsters of Folk 'Monsters of Folk' album

After touring together in 2004, M. Ward, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes decided to form the supergroup Monsters of Folk. After much anticipation and time spent in the studio, MOF are finally ready to debut their first collaborative album this September.

Monsters of Folk—comprised of Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, My Morning Jacket's Jim James and singer/songwriter M.Ward—will be releasing their first collaborative album on September 22nd. The self-titled effort was recorded in Malibu, CA and Omaha, NE, and produced by Mike Mogis. Although these critically acclaimed artists have shared the stage before, this album marks their first recorded output as a band.

Monsters of Folk began as folklore of sorts, when James, Oberst, Ward and Mogis did their first run of shows together in 2004. Like the musical revue shows that went town to town when rock 'n' roll was newly born, the tour was called "An Evening With: Bright Eyes, Jim James and M. Ward," although amongst friends and crew, it became affectionately known as the "Monsters of Folk Tour." While entertaining audiences coast to coast with gorgeous acoustic melodies and world-weary tales, the foursome vowed to make their way to a studio at some point after the tour’s completion. Instead, the songsmiths went on to individually release some of rock music's most exciting and essential albums of the last five years—Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning & Cassadaga; My Morning Jacket's Z & Evil Urges; M. Ward's Post War and Hold Time. Never ones to forget their promise, when downtime presented itself, they convened in the studio multiple times over two years, with Mogis at the helm of their first recorded effort. The result is as stunning and storied as you would expect it to be.

All four members play every instrument on the album, supplying everything from drum kills to cascading backing vocals. The songs—some road-worn fables, some intimate and intricate with electronic elements, some woozy and sun-soaked—are everything one expects from these four musical minds collaborating together. The album exudes a warm, organic spaciousness, filled by brilliant choruses, intoxicating harmonies and effortless melodies, as each member brings his own strengths to the table to create one perfect whole.

Monsters Of Folk tour dates
14 Portland, OR- Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
15 Seattle, WA- Paramount Theatre
17 Oakland, CA- Fox Theater
18 Los Angeles, CA- The Greek Theater
20 San Diego, CA- Spreckels Theatre
21 Phoenix, AZ- Orpheum Theater
22 Santa Barbara, CA- Santa Barbara Bowl
28 Omaha, NE- Holland Center
29 Minneapolis, MN- Orpheum Theatre
30 Chicago, IL- Auditorium Theatre
31 Louisville, KY- Louisville Palace Theatre

November 2009
03 Boston, MA- The Orpheum
06 New York, NY- United Palace
08 New York, NY- Beacon Theater
09 Philadelphia, PA- Academy of Music

Monsters Of Folk biography
Monsters of Folk was born on the road five years ago when My Morning Jacket's Jim James, Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, and singer/songwriter M. Ward toured together and regularly sat in on each other's sets.

In 2004, we were in need of a new name. Seems their original handle didn't quite roll off the tongue the way they'd hoped.

"We used to have a really long name, says Conor Oberst. "We were called 'An evening with Bright Eyes, Jim James and M.

"So our road manager just started calling us the 'Monsters of Folk,' because each of our careers have been so storied on folk," says Jim James. "It really seemed to fit, especially since it didn't."

"A lot of procrastination went into this album," says Oberst. "You know, whenever we had time, we'd get into it."

"You know, people's schedules get busy, and we had to turn it from a pipe dream into a reality," James added. "And to do that, we had to commit to some time. Which we eventually did."

The result of those two years is the Monsters' self-titled debut, out September 22nd via Shangri-La Records. Recorded in Malibu, California, and Oberst's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, and produced by Mogis, it's an album that tackles topics like love, loss, religion and politics ... all filtered through the reflective lenses of Oberst, James and Ward.

"Everyone came in with ideas and concepts that were then fleshed out by the group. We didn't write these songs specifically for our other bands, we just wrote them because we like writing," says Oberst. "For me, specifically, I don't think about what I'm going to do with the song before it's written, I don't really think of anything before it's written. It has to exist before I can ponder what to do with it. So I was writing for different records, and I just chose which ones felt like they'd work for this record."

For their upcoming tour, throughout each show, the four members will be switching instruments and trading roles, maintaining the highly collaborative spirit of their work together thus far.

In the spirit of folk-camaraderie, Monsters of Folk is partnering with Air Traffic Control, a resource for musicians' philanthropic and social change work, to donate monies raised from ticket sales. The band will be donating $1 from every ticket sold on the tour to local non-profits.

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Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk