Arbouretum

Arbouretum emerged as a vehicle for the poetic, frequently mystical folk leanings of singer/songwriter Dave Heumann, who guided a rotating ensemble of Baltimore musicians through understated yet expansive recordings such as the 2011 album The Gathering. Before launching the group in the early 2000s, Heumann had already contributed to projects by Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Cass McCombs. The initial lineup featured longtime associate Walker David Teret on guitar, former Lungfish drummer Mitchell Feldstein, and bassist Corey Allender. Their first release, Long Live the Well-Doer, appeared in 2004, followed three years later by Rites of Uncovering, which was partially tracked by Paul Oldham and drew, in Heumann's words, from the writings of Paul Bowles. With the rhythm section now anchored by Allender and Daniel Franz alongside guitarist Steve Strohmeier, Heumann returned to the studio with Rob Girardi in 2008, completing Song of the Pearl in just eight weeks; Thrill Jockey issued the album in February 2009. After a national tour, the band immediately resumed work with producer Matt Boynton, who had previously captured much of Rites of Uncovering. In 2010 keyboardist Matthew Pierce replaced Strohmeier. Inspired by the imagery in Carl Jung's The Red Book, Arbouretum unveiled the sprawling, myth-infused The Gathering the following year, marking the debut of drummer Brian Carey. Around the same period Heumann struck up a creative alliance with Keith Wood of Hush Arbors. The two acts mounted a joint European tour and documented their shared sensibilities on the 2012 split LP Aureola. They continued the partnership in 2013 with the full-length Coming Out of the Fog and, nine months afterward, the EP Gourd of Gold, a four-song, twenty-six-minute set consisting solely of Gordon Lightfoot interpretations. Following a four-year recording hiatus, the band resurfaced with its eighth studio album, Song of the Rose, in 2017. The ninth effort, Let It All In, shifted toward psychedelic folk and country blues and surfaced on Thrill Jockey in 2020.