The Lone Bellow

Formed when three transplants from the South settled in Brooklyn, The Lone Bellow emerged as a roots-rock ensemble whose articulate, emotionally intelligent songwriting draws on bluegrass and gospel dynamics, the drive of roots rock & roll, and blues-infused intensity to chronicle ordinary people striving to shape their lives, often against steep challenges. Early praise greeted the self-titled 2013 debut, after which the group pursued a fuller, more overt country sound on 2017’s Walk Into a Storm and later pursued bolder, more experimental production on 2020’s Half Moon Light. Their initial self-produced album, Love Songs for Losers, surfaced in 2022.

Zach Williams, who handles lead vocals and guitar, joined forces with Kanene Donehey Pipkin on vocals, mandolin, and keyboards and Brian Elmquist on vocals and guitar to establish the band. The catalyst arrived when Williams’ wife suffered a severe accident that left her temporarily paralyzed from the neck down; while her recovery hung in the balance, he began composing stark songs centered on tragedy, hope, and redemption. Once she regained full mobility, the couple relocated to Brooklyn. In 2011, Williams, then performing solo, reconnected musically with longtime friend Elmquist, and the addition of Pipkin solidified the trio. Expanding the core with bassist Jason Pipkin and drummer Justin Glasco, they developed an extensive repertoire built on Williams’ material and their collective writing.

Sony’s Descendant Records imprint released the widely lauded debut album, which climbed to number 64 on the Billboard Top 200 in early 2013. Following an intensive year of touring, the members entered the studio with Brooklyn neighbor Aaron Dessner of the National to record Then Came the Morning, issued in January 2015 and honored with an American Music Award nomination for Best Group/Duo. After moving to Nashville in 2016, the Lone Bellow delivered their third album, the Dave Cobb-produced Walk Into a Storm. The self-produced Restless EP followed in 2018.

Dessner again guided 2020’s Half Moon Light, an expansive effort that introduced new arrangement and production techniques while retaining the group’s signature harmonies and heartfelt lyrics; the project marked their debut on Dualtone Music after parting ways with Descendant. Released just as the COVID-19 pandemic began, the album could not be supported by live dates, yet it yielded two number-one Americana singles, “Count On Me” and “Dried Up River.”

Late in 2021 the three founding members, together with longtime bassist Jason Pipkin and drummer Julian Dorio, convened in a neighborhood church to outline eleven songs they had written and demoed during the touring hiatus. Pleased with the results, they relocated to Roy Orbison’s former residence on Old Hickory Lake, where Elmquist and Jacob Sooter served as instrumental producers and Kanene Donehey Pipkin oversaw vocal production. The completed work, Love Songs for Losers, appeared on Dualtone in November 2022. The band also supplied the theme song for the home-renovation series The Williams Family Cabin, featuring first-time renovators Zach and Stacy Williams as they converted a cabin into a creative space while managing careers and raising four children.