The Twilight Singers

Although the Twilight Singers originated as a side venture while Greg Dulli remained active with the Afghan Whigs, the project became his central focus once the Whigs disbanded in 2001. Dulli assembled the ensemble in 1997 amid the Whigs’ protracted negotiations to exit their deal with Elektra. He brought together Harold Chichester of Howlin’ Maggie, Shawn Smith of Brad, Barrett Martin of the Screaming Trees, and several New Orleans session musicians to track a concept album. Before the material could surface, however, the Whigs secured a new contract with Columbia, whose executives insisted on delivering a fresh Whigs record ahead of any solo release.

Once 1965 appeared, Dulli revisited the Twilight Singers tapes and reshaped the project in collaboration with the British remix duo Fila Brazillia, consisting of Steve Cobby and Dave McSherry. Columbia issued the reworked collection, Twilight as Played by the Twilight Singers, in September 2000. Following the Whigs’ dissolution, Dulli and his new ensemble delivered the widely praised Blackberry Belle in 2003 and followed it the next year with She Loves You, an album of reinterpretations. As Dulli addressed his longstanding substance issues, he began composing material for the band’s fourth full-length, Powder Burns, released in 2006. That record featured contributions from former Afghan Whig John Curley, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Dave Catching, Joseph Arthur, and Ani DiFranco. The bulk of the sessions took place at producer Mike Napolitano’s New Orleans studio, a facility that endured Hurricane Katrina yet operated solely on generator power.

Also in 2006 the band issued the five-track EP A Stitch in Time, which contained both original songs and covers—among them distinctive versions of Massive Attack’s “Live with Me” and Fat Freddy’s Drop’s “Flashback,” each featuring Mark Lanegan, who had previously joined Dulli in the Gutter Twins. A CD edition followed in early 2007. Although Dulli devoted considerable energy to additional endeavors, including the Gutter Twins’ 2008 album Saturnalia, he continued to prioritize the Twilight Singers, culminating in the 2011 release Dynamite Steps. The ensuing tour was captured on Live in New York, which appeared later that year.