The Old Ceremony

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Old Ceremony
Origin Flag of the United States Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Genre(s) Pop-noir, Rock
Years active 2004 – Present
Label(s) sonaBLAST! Records
Website theoldceremony.com
Members
Django Haskins
Dan Hall
Mark Simonsen
James Wallace
Matt Brandau

Josh Starmer
Gabriele Pelli
Daniel Hart

The Old Ceremony is a Chapel Hill, North Carolina pop-noir musical group fronted by Django Haskins. Formed in 2004, the group has released two full-length albums, Our One Mistake, on sonaBLAST! Records, and The Old Ceremony, on their own label, Alyosha Records. Through unique live performances, radio airplay, and positive critical reviews, the group has risen to local prominence and is planning a 2007 tour of the Eastern US.

Contents

[edit] Formation of the group

In the summer of 2004, Django Haskins, then a member of North Carolina rock supergroup International Orange, decided to form a 'mini-orchestra' to explore music that would be difficult to play in a rock orientation. For this effort, Haskins gathered numerous musical luminaries from the NC Triangle region and the end result was dubbed 'The Old Ceremony,' after Leonard Cohen's 1975 album, New Skin for the Old Ceremony.

The fledgling group was soon granted an extended residency at Chapel Hill's West End Wine Bar, where they worked to develop their unique sound and refine their musical skills. These residency performances became popular due to the group's unusual instrumentation and on-stage presence (all band members wore suits) and the group soon gained a local following. Several months after their first residency, the group recorded and released their first full-length album, The Old Ceremony.

[edit] Touring and the second album

Soon after releasing their first album, the group embarked upon a tour of North Carolina and the Eastern US, playing venues such as Joe's Pub and IOTA. At one of their New York performances, the group attracted the attention of filmmaker Gill Holland, who offered the group a contract on his record label, sonaBLAST! Records. The contract was accepted, and in 2006, the group released their second album, Our One Mistake, on this record label.

[edit] Discography

[edit] External links