Search - Bow Thayer :: Hindsight

Hindsight chronicles Bow Thayer's musical history since he made the fateful decision more than 15 years ago to leave the urban landscape of Boston for the Green Mountains of Vermont. While opting for the quiet life among the trees may not have proven to be the surest path to commercial success, it did provide the perfect environment for Bow to hone his craft as a songwriter and as a musician. As many great writers before him, Bow began his journey by re-discovering the delta blues, leading a trio known as Elbow (before the band from the UK came across the Pond) armed with a slide guitar and backed by a trash can drum kit and the muddiest of bass tones. During the production of the first record, his bassist then and now, Jeremy Moses Curtis, brought a banjo into the studio. As Jeremy writes in Hindsight's liner notes, "I ll never forget Bow busting my chops about it, humming a few bars of 'Deliverance' all the while looking like he secretly wished it was his. The next time I saw him he had one of his own, and let s just say the rest is history." Soon Bow was playing his own form of bluegrass, first with Jethro and then with the critically acclaimed Benders, but he never severed his roots in rock. Along the way came the opportunity of a lifetime - the chance to make to make an album with an idol, the late, great Levon Helm on drums. The results of that one day session among the snow and smoke, including "Wingless Angels" and "Stoned Kid" found on Hindsight, still resonate with listeners today. Bow then set out to explore how to take his banjo out of the bluegrass setting and into the rock clubs. He found the answer in his cherished Deering Crossfire electric banjo. With Curtis (who most recently toured with R&B legend Booker T.) and one of the most technically sound drummers in the northeast holding down the low end, Bow has assembled a backing band known as The Perfect Trainwreck that is allowing him to realize his musical vision. Call it Mountain Soul or simply Modern Mountain Music, Bow is paving a new creative direction that will culminate with the release of brand new material early next year. But Hindsight allows fans, new and old, to listen back and experience the trip that has been with 20 songs that span Bow's career, including one new tune, "New Deal", that assures the listener there's plenty more to come.