Lowbelly

History
Lowbelly began in the summer of 1995 as a side project by Jeremy Miller and Tristan Andreas. They began with a small home studio, several instruments (toy and real) and a love for cartoon and soundtack music in the tradition of Ennio Morricone, Henry Mancini, and Juan Esquivel. Early 4-track recordings were well received by friends and family. Upgrading to 8 tracks in 1996, they started adding more found objects to the mix: a roll of duct tape, a heater vent, the truck parked outside, and a tape measure. There were two different "live" performances in 1996, but these were one-shot deals featuring members of Fury III. The early recordings are presented on the first two cassettes and Beefy Leafy Cha Cha Cha. During 1997, bands passing through town were invited to contribute little pieces of songs; these were combined with performances by local artists and of course Jeremy and Tristan, eventually comprising the eclectic Lowbelly and Friends tracks. Because no computers, sample loops or sequencers were used in any of the recordings to date, a nine-piece ensemble of real musicians was assembled in 1998 to take this fun and unusual music on a summer/fall tour of the pacific northwest. This trainwreck was documented in the happily out-of-print Ensemble CD. A four-piece "rock" lineup performed live at the end of 1998. The "rock" recordings are featured on Solomon in G and The Mysteriously Untitled Fourth Album. Starting at the end of 1999 Lowbelly morphed into an all-acoustic sextet. This group undertook the most ambitious endeavor to date with the Fall 2000 Tour. the dual-strategy of performance group plus recording experiments has continued to this day. The core acoustic set was recorded for The Letter L, with outtakes and other experiments comprising The Number 12. Live performances were suspended between Halloween 2001 and Halloween 2002. During this time recordings for The Letter L were finished and the Halloween EP was recorded. A new electric direction was established for the live performances starting in Fall 2002, leading to the electric sextet that toured the Pacific Northwest in Fall 2003 and played many more live shows through 2004. In 2005, a more electronic direction was taken. This experiment concluded with a west coast tour and a recording session produced by Chris Xefos in San Francisco. Meanwhile, recordings from the electric sextet were finished up and summarized with A Phoenix Like This, released May 2006. We are working on the electronic recordings for another record in the near future.

Discography

	Lowbelly drums, guitars, banjo, toy piano, 3-string ukulele, Chinese flutes, maracas, reed organ and other various found objects. A charming introduction. Released early 1996. FHM003 Cassette OUT of PRINT
	Kady O'Gee "I like listening to this, eating egg salad sandwiches and wishing it was summer and that there was a breeze coming in through the window, not garbage smell." -Gullible. Released Hallowe'en 1996 FHM008 Cassette OUT of PRINT
	Lowbelly and Friends The third outing for Lowbelly, this time accompanied by about 50 of their closest friends from around the country and beyond. "Fun, complex;" "great background music for partying with friends..." -misc. reviewers. Released Summer 1998. FHM020 CD OUT of PRINT
	Ensemble A live recording from the 9-piece mini-orchestra captured during the summer '98 tour. Includes random Casio gibber-jabber between songs. Released Fall 1998. FHM024 CD OUT of PRINT
	Beefy, Leafy, Cha Cha Cha Two disks, over two hours, over 60 tracks, 16 page booklet with extensive liner notes. Includes anthology of all the instrumentals from the first two cassettes, previously unreleased archive recordings, and new songs. Measured by minutes or megabytes, this is our biggest release yet! Released early 1999. FHM027 2xCD $15
	Solomon in G (petit pois) A 9-song EP from Lowbelly featuring the last of the 8-track recordings. Many are attempted "professional" recordings of barnstormers from the 1998 live performances. As far as the Lowbelly archives are concerned, this album best documents the transition from basement dwelling studio experiment to fully rehearsed performance group. Released mid-1999 FHM031 CD $7
	The Mysteriously Untitled Fourth Album More Cartoon Jazz! From the happy casio melody of the opening cut to the rain-drenched final fadeout, this collection gently carries a bittersweet undercurrent to your heart. Lowbelly has become more focused while keeping a healthy stylistic mix. Included are several new jazz and electronic songs, final 16-track versions of the rock legacy, and tributes to Yes and Henry Mancini. Released 2000. FHM032 CD $9
	The Number 12 Part leftovers from The Letter L sessions, part holiday four-tracking in Louisiana, part jazz experiment, all strange and beautiful. The Lowbelly expeience can vary quite a bit from one record to the next; this record is more electronic and experimental than average. Released 2001. FHM041 CD $9
	The Letter L "Lowbelly's music is magical, delightful and entirely unexpected... You feel like you're living in a clever touching indie movie" - The Idaho Statesman. This is the perfect Lowbelly record, period. A wonderful recording of the acoustic sextet, recorded with care over the course of two years at Kashimunji and professionally mastered by Emily Lazar at the Lodge. Released 2003. FHM048 CD $10
	Hallowe'en E.P. Tacked onto the Monster Dudes debut recording is Lowbelly's enigmatic Hallowe'en EP. Many of these compositions were commisioned for a series of Hallowe'en performances at Neurolux and Kramerica. Also included is "Because of the Boxes," a lost gem from the Letter L sessions. Much like Children of the Corn or Village of the Damned, this release properly introduces the children of Fort Hazel into the catalog. Released 2004. FHM050 CD $8
	A Phoenix Like This A rock instrumental masterpiece 3 years in production. This collection features all the best jams from the Lowbelly "rock" sextet, including Grant's out-of-this-world guitar leads, Ben's sultry saxophone, the ever-tighter rhythm section that is Jake Hite and Michael P. Waite, and deft arrangements throughout courtesy of Jeremy and Tristan. Professionally recorded and mastered, released 2006. FHM053 CD $10

Live Bands
1.0 (1996): Jeremy Miller (JM): gtr; Tristan Andreas (TA): drums, keys; Debi Agenbroad: bass; Jim Agenbroad: keys, drums
2.0 (1996): JM: gtr; TA: keys, drums; Jake Hite (JH): drums, keys; Rik Tessensohn: bass
3.0 (1998): TA: gtr, keys; JH: drums; Ben Kline (BK): clarinet, flute, perc; Brian Amberg (BA): gtr; Phédra Andreas: viola, keys; Mike Rogers: keys; Buzz Williams: bass; Jules Martin: vox, perc; Steve Kramer: vox, perc
4.0 (1998): JM: gtr; TA: bass; JH: drums; BK: clarinet, keys
5.0 (1999): JM: banjo, balalaika; TA: toy piano, accordion; JH: perc; BK: clarinet, perc; BA: gtr, perc; Scott Kim: contrabass
5.1 (2000-2001): JM: banjo, gtr; TA: keys, accordion; JH: drums; BK: clarinet, perc; BA: gtr, perc; Mike Waite (MW): contrabass
6.0 (2002): TA: keys; JH: drums; MW: contrabass; Grant Olsen (GO): gtr
6.1 (2003-2004): JM: gtr; TA: keys; JH: drums; BK: saxophone, clarinet; MW: bass; GO: gtr
7.0 (2005): JM, TA: synthesizers; JH: programming, perc; MW: contrabass; GO: gtr, loops