Over a decade ago, Flagstaff’s own southwestern Americana rock band, Pilcrowe, was formed by guitarist Ryan Heinsius and drummer Andrew Lauher. The two had collaborated on other projects together locally, such as the Voluntary String Band and Crow Wing, but Pilcrowe was a project that became something special to the musicians. What started as a new opportunity to play the music they love together, evolved into a project reflective of a long-standing friendship, growth and meditations on life in the modern mountain West.
Pilcrowe’s sound is truly their own: a balance of woodsy wanderlust and rebel on the run, psychedelic and cinematic, western, indie, alternative and rock. The songs reflect images of a harsh but beautiful West and the music is often just as beautiful yet surprising. Lauher said that in other musical configurations, he may not take as many risks with his drumming as he does with Pilcrowe, but in that space, he has the courage and freedom to make the music his own, to make it as creative or "risky" as possible. He said that approach can be heard on Pilcrowe’s latest album, an Oct. 27 release entitled, "West of Center."
"It’s something that is just this pure artistic thing," Lauher said. "Just as a drummer I took chances that if I was trying to make a popular record, I wouldn’t have done."
"West of Center" is a full-length follow-up to the band’s 2022 EP, "The Big Burn". And "West of Center" is about as DIY and locally-made as it gets. The album was recorded and produced entirely by the band in their own Woody Mountain Studio. Written and performed in Flagstaff, Heinsius said that recording and producing the songs was challenging, but that it was a labor of love Pilcrowe was ready to take on.
"When we had nine songs and it was 43 minutes, we were like, ‘Yeah, let’s just put that out,"’ Heinsius said. "It’s really a wonderful process and one that we can control and it's very gratifying."
Heinsius also said the band has more tracks in the works and that Pilcrowe is excited, not only to share their music with the world, but to really have a collection of the music that he and Lauher created together.
"For a long time, we've been creating this sound, and it's really fun to be able to form this long-term artistic partnership that isn't really based on how many people you can pack into a club or a theater or how many albums you can sell, how many streams on Spotify," Heinsius said. "None of it's based on that. It's based purely on creating what we're creating. It's based purely on the songs and the feeling that we get playing together and the process of recording and the process of just creation. And that's it. It's one of the more pure experiences I've ever had in my life. Certainly artistically. We're not in it for anything. No, that's the hilarity. I don't care if we're popular or if we sell stuff or what; it doesn't matter." From: https://azdailysun.com/flaglive/features/music/flagstaff-band-pilcrowe-puts-the-west-to-the-test-with-new-album-west-of-center/article_9fa7f15e-7e72-11ee-b153-cbb5876abbdd.html
