Biography
Thomas Bartlett works as a vocalist, composer, and pianist, earning notice through his production efforts, frequent role as a session player, and frontman duties for the somber art-pop vehicle Doveman. Although that project put out four albums from 2005 through 2009, the name reappeared on subsequent recordings that included remixes. Bartlett also played in the 1990s folk group Popcorn Behavior while still a teenager, and his debut release credited solely to himself came in 2018 as a joint effort with composer and pianist Nico Muhly. Production work under his name encompasses Glen Hansard, Rhye, the Magnetic Fields, and Mandy Patinkin, whereas his keyboard contributions appear on releases by Ed Sheeran, Joshua Bell, David Byrne, and Father John Misty. He has likewise traveled as a touring musician alongside the National, Bebel Gilberto, and Antony and the Johnsons.
Born in Brattleboro, Vermont, Bartlett started the folk ensemble Popcorn Behavior alongside childhood companion Sam Amidon on fiddle and the younger Stefan Amidon on drums; the participants were then between ten and thirteen years old. The trio issued three albums—the self-titled 1993 debut, Journeywork in 1997, and Strangest Dream in 1999, which added fourth member Keith Murphy on guitar and mandolin—before Bartlett relocated to London, England, for piano lessons with Maria Curcio. After twelve months he shifted to New York City to attend Columbia University, yet left the program once opportunities arose with acts such as Chocolate Genius and Elysian Fields. During the same stretch he began writing as a music critic for Salon.com and launched a weekly download series that became the daily Audiofile feature at the start of 2005.
Dougie Bowne, Jacob Danziger, Peter Ecklund, and Sam Amidon all played on The Acrobat, Bartlett’s initial Doveman full-length, which Swim Slowly Records issued in July 2005 and which spotlighted his restrained singing together with a brooding blend of folk, jazz, classical, and ambient elements. The next Doveman album, With My Left Hand I Raise the Dead, came out on Brassland in 2007 and retained most of the same personnel except for Danziger while adding Shahzad Ismaily. One year afterward the third Doveman record, Footloose, recast chosen numbers from the 1984 film musical in the project’s characteristically subdued manner. The still close-knit The Conformist appeared on Brassland in 2009 and included nearly two dozen guests such as Glen Hansard, Norah Jones, members of the National, members of the chamber ensemble yMusic, plus Amidon, Bowne, and Eckland. In 2010 Bartlett supplied a remix for Tegan and Sara’s Alligator Remixes collection under the Doveman banner.
Throughout the period of those four Doveman albums Bartlett toured and recorded with the National, David Byrne, Hansard’s the Swell Season, and Antony and the Johnsons, among others. Fellow musicians recognized him both as a songwriter and as a dependable accompanist; in the ensuing years he contributed to albums by Iron & Wine, Sharon Van Etten, and Rufus Wainwright. Further appearances followed in 2013 on sets by Yoko Ono, Joshua Bell, and the National. By that point he had also begun producing projects for Bell X1 (Chop Chop), the Gloaming (The Gloaming), Dawn Landes (Bluebird), solo Hansard (Rhythm and Repose, Drive All Night), and Amidon (Bright Sunny South).
In January 2016 Bartlett marked David Bowie’s passing with a Doveman version of “Lazarus,” performed by Bartlett and featuring vocal harmonies from Hansard. The following year he supplied keyboards and piano for Ed Sheeran’s number-one album ÷. Also in 2017 a Doveman remix of Sufjan Stevens’ “Futile Devices” appeared on the soundtrack to the Oscar-winning film Call Me by Your Name, while another Doveman remix surfaced on Stevens’ The Greatest Gift mixtape. The first half of 2018 brought both Diary: January 27, 2018 and Peter Pears: Balinese Ceremonial Music, both issued by Nonesuch Records. The former marked the initial entry in a series of albums Bartlett produced for Mandy Patinkin and carried Bartlett’s name and photograph on the cover alongside Patinkin’s; the latter was a collaboration with Nico Muhly issued under Bartlett’s own name and included his vocals.
Born in Brattleboro, Vermont, Bartlett started the folk ensemble Popcorn Behavior alongside childhood companion Sam Amidon on fiddle and the younger Stefan Amidon on drums; the participants were then between ten and thirteen years old. The trio issued three albums—the self-titled 1993 debut, Journeywork in 1997, and Strangest Dream in 1999, which added fourth member Keith Murphy on guitar and mandolin—before Bartlett relocated to London, England, for piano lessons with Maria Curcio. After twelve months he shifted to New York City to attend Columbia University, yet left the program once opportunities arose with acts such as Chocolate Genius and Elysian Fields. During the same stretch he began writing as a music critic for Salon.com and launched a weekly download series that became the daily Audiofile feature at the start of 2005.
Dougie Bowne, Jacob Danziger, Peter Ecklund, and Sam Amidon all played on The Acrobat, Bartlett’s initial Doveman full-length, which Swim Slowly Records issued in July 2005 and which spotlighted his restrained singing together with a brooding blend of folk, jazz, classical, and ambient elements. The next Doveman album, With My Left Hand I Raise the Dead, came out on Brassland in 2007 and retained most of the same personnel except for Danziger while adding Shahzad Ismaily. One year afterward the third Doveman record, Footloose, recast chosen numbers from the 1984 film musical in the project’s characteristically subdued manner. The still close-knit The Conformist appeared on Brassland in 2009 and included nearly two dozen guests such as Glen Hansard, Norah Jones, members of the National, members of the chamber ensemble yMusic, plus Amidon, Bowne, and Eckland. In 2010 Bartlett supplied a remix for Tegan and Sara’s Alligator Remixes collection under the Doveman banner.
Throughout the period of those four Doveman albums Bartlett toured and recorded with the National, David Byrne, Hansard’s the Swell Season, and Antony and the Johnsons, among others. Fellow musicians recognized him both as a songwriter and as a dependable accompanist; in the ensuing years he contributed to albums by Iron & Wine, Sharon Van Etten, and Rufus Wainwright. Further appearances followed in 2013 on sets by Yoko Ono, Joshua Bell, and the National. By that point he had also begun producing projects for Bell X1 (Chop Chop), the Gloaming (The Gloaming), Dawn Landes (Bluebird), solo Hansard (Rhythm and Repose, Drive All Night), and Amidon (Bright Sunny South).
In January 2016 Bartlett marked David Bowie’s passing with a Doveman version of “Lazarus,” performed by Bartlett and featuring vocal harmonies from Hansard. The following year he supplied keyboards and piano for Ed Sheeran’s number-one album ÷. Also in 2017 a Doveman remix of Sufjan Stevens’ “Futile Devices” appeared on the soundtrack to the Oscar-winning film Call Me by Your Name, while another Doveman remix surfaced on Stevens’ The Greatest Gift mixtape. The first half of 2018 brought both Diary: January 27, 2018 and Peter Pears: Balinese Ceremonial Music, both issued by Nonesuch Records. The former marked the initial entry in a series of albums Bartlett produced for Mandy Patinkin and carried Bartlett’s name and photograph on the cover alongside Patinkin’s; the latter was a collaboration with Nico Muhly issued under Bartlett’s own name and included his vocals.
Albums
Singles
