All Them Witches

A versatile hard rock quartet based out of Nashville, Tennessee, All Them Witches draw from a deep well of musical inspiration that includes Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, Sun, Moon & Herbs-era Dr. John, and the electric Delta swamp blues of Junior Kimbrough. Employing a heady, D.I.Y. blend of bluesy, neo-psychedelic rock, stoner metal, and progressive space rock, they emerged in 2012 with the independently released Our Mother Electricity. They continued to hone their unique meld of crafted songwriting and spacious grooves on subsequent outings like Sleeping Through the War (2017) and ATW (2018). They kicked off the 2020s with the release of their critically acclaimed sixth set, Nothing as the Ideal.
Fronted by bassist Charles Michael Parks, Jr., the lineup is rounded out by drummer Robby Staebler, guitarist Ben McLeod, and Allan Van Cleave on Fender Rhodes, organ, and other instruments. Their debut album, Our Mother Electricity, was the first release on Germany’s Elektrohasch by an American band. The band immediately set to work on a follow-up, issuing the EP Extra Pleasant, recorded with two microphones direct to a cassette recorder. They began a grueling touring schedule and garnered a multitude of fans, who were encouraged to record and trade concert tapes with one another. Lightning at the Door was quietly self-released through the quartet’s Bandcamp page in early 2014, and later marketed by Tone Tree Music. All Them Witches received international critical attention for this recording, all the while continuing to tour. Their profile increased during a series of dates with doom rockers Windhand.
All Them Witches continued their rise, playing to intense fanfare at music festivals such as SXSW and Bonnaroo, as well as reissuing 2014′s Lightning at the Door. The band recorded its third album in Pigeon Forge, in eastern Tennessee, setting up a studio in a remote cabin where they lived and worked and finished the album in six days. Dying Surfer Meets His Maker was released at the end of October in 2015, followed by an eight-month tour; one stop in March 2016 was recorded and released as Live in Brussels. In November 2016, the video and single “Bruce Lee” appeared as a pre-release to 2017′s studio set Sleeping Through the War. The album was produced by Dave Cobb and featured guest spots from Caitlin Rose and Mickey Raphael.
In May 2018, Allan Van Cleave stepped away from the band, who went on to record their fifth studio album ATW, which arrived that September. The trio recorded another full-length, Nothing as the Ideal, in 2020. Van Cleave returned to the fold in April 2021. The next year, All Them Witches released a handful of singles, as well as Live on the Internet, an official recording of a 2020 broadcast. ~ Thom Jurek