The Brought Low

Formed in Brooklyn, New York during 1999, the Brought Low originally consisted of singer and guitarist Benjamin Howard Smith alongside bassist Dean Rispler and drummer Nick Heller. Their first recording appeared in 2001 as a self-titled album on Tee Pee Records, showcasing a vintage '70s hard-rock approach steeped in American and British influences. After Rispler departed, Robert Russell joined on bass in 2003. Three years later the band issued their follow-up, the sardonically titled Right on Time, via Small Stone; the album deepened the blues elements in their sound and prompted more extensive touring. In 2010 the group returned with Third Record, again on Small Stone, which revealed a pronounced Southern-rock fixation while retaining the band's core heavy-rock identity.