Early Day Miners

Based in Bloomington, Indiana, Early Day Miners present themselves as a "musical cooperative." Daniel Burton and Rory Leitch, both previously members of Ativin, form the central trio alongside Joseph Brumley, though the lineup has regularly incorporated additional friends for both studio sessions and stage appearances. Their sound reshapes rural American forms into expansive, experimental soundscapes marked by a persistent undercurrent of melancholy and occasional slowcore leanings. The group’s debut arrived in 2000 via Western Vinyl as the seven-song, 49-minute Placer Found. Two years later, Secretly Canadian Records issued Let Us Garlands Bring, an album whose more expansive arrangements supported Burton’s lead vocals. Further Secretly Canadian releases followed with 2003’s Jefferson at Rest and 2005’s All Harm Ends Here. In 2006 the six-song Offshore appeared; originally planned as material for Let Us Garlands Bring, it carried production input from Tortoise’s John McEntire. The full-length The Treatment surfaced in 2009. By May 2010, Burton addressed the band’s Wikipedia entry on the Early Day Miners site, noting that it listed the group as disbanded. He acknowledged canceled performances stemming from financial pressures and expressed frustration with the “soul sucking” elements of the industry, while leaving the question of a permanent split unresolved. “In other news, British Petroleum is doing a great job of destroying the world,” he added, “or at least the part of it that matters most to me.”