Concert Reports

Following their performance at the GRAMMY's in February, Denver-based band The Lumineers sold over 66 thousand copies of their GRAMMY-nominated self-titled debut album to achieve Platinum sales status. Since its release last April by Dualtone, the album has sold over 1 million total records, and was #6 on the overall Billboard chart.

All Photos: Gus Gustafson

Special Thanks: Jim Merlis and Chris Robinson

The album is anchored by the band's popular first single "Ho Hey" which is now triple-platinum and not showing any signs of slowing. Last week alone they sold nearly 200,000 copies with a running total of almost 3,500,000 copies sold in just 11 months. "Ho Hey" also spent eight weeks at #1 at Triple A radio and two weeks at #1 at Alternative Radio, helping to make The Lumineers the first independent label artist to have a debut single reach #1 at three separate formats--Triple A, Alternative & Hot AC.

The band's second single "Stubborn Love" is following in the footsteps of its predecessor. "Stubborn Love" is currently sitting at #1 at AAA Radio for it's eighth straight week, and is now Top 10 at Alternative radio.

The band is in the midst of a U.S. Spring Tour, and stopped at Berkeley’s famed Greek Theatre to play to a Sold Out crowd. World-wide, the band is selling out every date they play.

The Lumineers  

“Wesley Schultz, 9, who wants to be an artist, said, ‘I spend a lot of time on my drawings and it turns out good ’cause I’ve been practicing a lot.’” -The New York Times, 3/15/92  

Twenty years ago, Wesley Schultz saw the future.  

Back then, growing up in the New York City suburb of Ramsey, New Jersey, Wesley spent his days drawing side by side with his best friend, Josh Fraites. Today, as bandleader of The Lumineers, Wesley’s replaced his pencil with a guitar, his drawings with songs, and plays side by side with Joshua’s younger brother Jeremiah. He still practices a lot, and it still turns out good.  

But The Lumineers’ story didn’t come so easily.  

In the spring of 2005, Wesley and Jeremiah began to collaborate, writing together and playing gigs around New York. After battling the city’s cutthroat music scene and impossibly high cost of living, the two decided to expand their horizons. They packed everything they owned—nothing more than a couple suitcases of clothes and a trailer full of musical instruments—and headed for Denver, Colorado. It was less a pilgrimage than act of stubborn hopefulness.  

The first thing they did in Denver was place a Craigslist ad for a cellist, and the first person to respond was Neyla Pekarek, a classically trained Denver native. They began playing at the Meadowlark, a gritty basement club where the city’s most talented songwriters gathered every Tuesday for an open mic and dollar PBRs. Neyla softened Wes and Jer’s rough edges while expanding her skills to mandolin and piano. And so The Lumineers sound took shape; an amalgam of heart-swelling stomp-and-clap acoustic rock, classic pop, and front-porch folk.  

In 2011, an eponymous, self-recorded EP led to a self-booked tour, and before long The Lumineers started attracting devout fans, first across the Western US, then back in their old East Coast stamping grounds. Young, old and in-between, they’re drawn by songs like “Ho Hey” and “Stubborn Love,” Americana-inflected barnburners in the vein of the Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons. They’re drawn by songs like “Slow it Down” and “Dead Sea,” slow, sultry ballads that suggest the raw revelations of Jeff Buckley and Ryan Adams. They’re drawn by the live Lumineers experience—a coming-together in musical solidarity against isolation, adversity, and despair.  

The roots revival of the last few yeas has primed listeners for a new generation of rustic, heart-on-the-sleeve music—the kind that nods to tradition while setting off into uncharted territory. The Lumineers walk that line with an unerring gift for timeless melodies and soul-stirring lyrics. It will all be on display soon, on the band’s first full-length album, due in March. Born out of sorrow, powered by passion, ripened by hard work, The Lumineers have found their sound when the world needs it most.  

TWITTER: @thelumineers

www.thelumineers.com

www.youtube.com/thelumineers

www.indiemerch.com/thelumineers  

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