Langhorne Slim & The Law

Something of a one-man mixture of the Cramps, Beck’s early indie records (circa One Foot in the Grave), and the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, singer and guitarist Langhorne Slim offers a sardonic, modern take on traditional folk, country, and blues. Fancifully dubbed “the bastard son of Hasil Adkins” in some of his early press releases, Langhorne Slim is in fact a Pennsylvania native who resettled in Brooklyn after his graduation from the State University of New York at Purchase. After a self-released demo garnered some local and online attention (as well as a semi-regular gig as the opening act for indie novelty outfit the Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players), Langhorne Slim signed with the indie label Narnack Records and released his first EP, Electric Love Letter, in March 2004. The more varied and band-oriented full-length When the Sun's Gone Down followed in the spring of 2005. Much touring ensued over the next year, including support dates with Lucero and Murder by Death, with drummer Malachi DeLorenzo and upright bassist Paul DeFiglia (aka “the War Eagles”) in tow. In 2006, Langhorne Slim signed with the larger (though still not major) label V2 Records, which released the all-new EP Engine in September of that year, as the singer was finishing recording his second full album, produced by Josh Ritter’s keyboardist, Sam Kassirer. The deal fell through, however, and the band was left label-less. The band found a new home on Kemado Records, which released the self-titled Langhorne Slim album in 2008. A second Kemado album, Be Set Free, appeared a year later in 2009. In 2012 Slim and his new backing band the Law issued The Way We Move via Ramseur Records. The LP’s title track was featured in the Tina Fey film Admission, as well as in a Microsoft commercial. Slim’s fifth studio long player, The Spirit Moves, followed in 2015. ~ Stewart Mason & Steve Leggett