Biography
Wovenhand originated as a Gothic Americana rock outfit assembled by Colorado-based vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist David Eugene Edwards. After the dissolution of his brooding alt-country ensemble 16 Horsepower, the project became his primary outlet. Its sound fuses sinuous, shadowy, atmospheric verses marked by intense spiritual undercurrents with vintage folk, country blues, and gospel traditions propelled by swamp-infused rock & roll. Although Edwards handled nearly every instrument alone on the self-titled 2001 debut and the two records that followed, he enlarged the recording unit to a quartet for the somber 2006 release Mosaic. By the arrival of the internationally praised, modally arranged The Threshingfloor in 2010, the lineup had stabilized as a trio. The group’s palette broadened further with mutant rockabilly, surf, desert blues, and eerie prog elements on 2016’s Star Treatment, recorded alongside guitarist and eventual co-writer Chuck French; that album closed a six-year recording hiatus. Edwards and French then composed, tracked, and issued the stylistically eclectic Silver Sash in 2022, enlisting a five-piece configuration.
When 16 Horsepower entered a period of inactivity in 2001, Edwards initiated Wovenhand while the former band contemplated its next artistic move. The new venture retained comparable musical and thematic foundations yet adopted a more forceful and intimate stance. He initially convened Wovenhand as a trio alongside multi-instrumentalist Daniel McMahon and guitarist Steve Taylor, another 16 Horsepower alumnus, before the roster grew to encompass drummer Ordy Garrison and cellist Paul Fonfara. Shane Trost substituted for Fonfara during live appearances. Edwards performed virtually every part on the debut album issued in 2002 by Glitterhouse in Europe and Sounds Familyre in the United States. In 2003 he adapted several of those pieces for a Belgian dance company, resulting in the album Blush Music. The 2004 release Consider the Birds juxtaposed Edwards’ solo pieces against full-band selections, while concert performances featured only Edwards and Garrison.
Additional players assumed greater prominence on Mosaic in 2006—the first Wovenhand album to appear after 16 Horsepower’s formal disbandment in 2005—marking the exit of Daniel McMahon and the entry of guitarist Peter van Laerhoven, with another 16 Horsepower veteran, Pascal Humbert, joining on bass. Although the project had functioned largely as an Edwards solo vehicle, Ten Stones in 2008 credited the entire group with songwriting for the first time and documented performances as a cohesive unit. Edwards resumed solitary composition for The Threshingfloor in 2010, after which the band played several support dates for Tool. In 2012 he participated in a reunion tour by the Australian alternative rock band Crime & the City Solution; Alexander Hacke, formerly of Einstürzende Neubauten and also involved in that tour, co-produced The Laughing Stalk, which featured Garrison on drums, Chuck French of Planes Mistaken for Stars on guitar, and Gregory Garcia, Jr. on bass. Refractory Obdurate arrived in 2014 with Edwards joined by Garrison, French, and new bassist Neil Keener, followed in 2016 by Star Treatment, tracked at Electrical Audio with metal producer Sandford Parker.
Six years would pass before the next Wovenhand album.
Following an extensive world tour and a restorative pause, the indefatigable Edwards began a songwriting partnership with French. Together they wrote, recorded, and released the widely varied Silver Sash in 2022, employing a quintet that retained longtime drummer Ordy Garrison, bassist Neil Keener, and added synthesist Dylan Nadon. Jason Begin produced and engineered the nine-track collection. Wovenhand’s sonic range now encompassed scorched, effects-heavy Gothic western vistas, raucous psychedelia, spectral Americana, and doomsday garage rock.
When 16 Horsepower entered a period of inactivity in 2001, Edwards initiated Wovenhand while the former band contemplated its next artistic move. The new venture retained comparable musical and thematic foundations yet adopted a more forceful and intimate stance. He initially convened Wovenhand as a trio alongside multi-instrumentalist Daniel McMahon and guitarist Steve Taylor, another 16 Horsepower alumnus, before the roster grew to encompass drummer Ordy Garrison and cellist Paul Fonfara. Shane Trost substituted for Fonfara during live appearances. Edwards performed virtually every part on the debut album issued in 2002 by Glitterhouse in Europe and Sounds Familyre in the United States. In 2003 he adapted several of those pieces for a Belgian dance company, resulting in the album Blush Music. The 2004 release Consider the Birds juxtaposed Edwards’ solo pieces against full-band selections, while concert performances featured only Edwards and Garrison.
Additional players assumed greater prominence on Mosaic in 2006—the first Wovenhand album to appear after 16 Horsepower’s formal disbandment in 2005—marking the exit of Daniel McMahon and the entry of guitarist Peter van Laerhoven, with another 16 Horsepower veteran, Pascal Humbert, joining on bass. Although the project had functioned largely as an Edwards solo vehicle, Ten Stones in 2008 credited the entire group with songwriting for the first time and documented performances as a cohesive unit. Edwards resumed solitary composition for The Threshingfloor in 2010, after which the band played several support dates for Tool. In 2012 he participated in a reunion tour by the Australian alternative rock band Crime & the City Solution; Alexander Hacke, formerly of Einstürzende Neubauten and also involved in that tour, co-produced The Laughing Stalk, which featured Garrison on drums, Chuck French of Planes Mistaken for Stars on guitar, and Gregory Garcia, Jr. on bass. Refractory Obdurate arrived in 2014 with Edwards joined by Garrison, French, and new bassist Neil Keener, followed in 2016 by Star Treatment, tracked at Electrical Audio with metal producer Sandford Parker.
Six years would pass before the next Wovenhand album.
Following an extensive world tour and a restorative pause, the indefatigable Edwards began a songwriting partnership with French. Together they wrote, recorded, and released the widely varied Silver Sash in 2022, employing a quintet that retained longtime drummer Ordy Garrison, bassist Neil Keener, and added synthesist Dylan Nadon. Jason Begin produced and engineered the nine-track collection. Wovenhand’s sonic range now encompassed scorched, effects-heavy Gothic western vistas, raucous psychedelia, spectral Americana, and doomsday garage rock.
Albums
Singles
