Ed Helms, the well-known movie and TV comic, and less-well-known banjo picker and acoustic musician, is putting the old band back together, reuniting his college group, The Lonesome Trio, and releasing a new album of original material June 16 on Sugar Hill Records.
And he assures us all that this is not a joke. Despite his having earned critical acclaim as a funny man in TV’s The Office and in the blockbuster Hangover films, The Lonesome Trio is a serious musical endeavor, one that began when Ed was attending Oberlin College as an undergraduate. There he met and became acquainted with fellow acoustic, folk, and bluegrass lovers Ian Riggs, and Jacob Tilove, and they began loosely performing together as Weedkiller.
After graduating, they reassembled in New York City pursuing separate career paths, and began writing music together and appearing as The Lonesome Trio. And now, 22 years after first meeting in Ohio, it’s time for an album and a tour.
Sugar Hill is releasing this sneak peak audio for one of the tracks, a clever song of regret called Appalachia Apologia. Pre-order sales begin tomorrow in iTunes, and everyone who orders the CD in advance will receive this track as an instant download.
Tour dates begin June 4 with a show at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA, with other stops scheduled at bluegrass hotspots in Boston, Nashville, Atlanta and more. There’s also a performance at Bonnaroo on June 14, where Helms typically sponsors a stage dedicated to modern acoustic music, often with a grassy flavor.
You can check for additional dates on The Lonesome Trio web site.
