Nathan Bowles

A significant player in the folk and experimental scenes around Virginia and North Carolina, Nathan Bowles has enjoyed a multi-layered career as a collaborator, teacher, multi-instrumentalist, and solo artist. His work in bands like Pelt and the Black Twig Pickers has placed him in a unique zone somewhere between Appalachian folk and minimalist drone music, though he has also worked as a collaborator with artists like Jake Xerxes Fussell, Rosali, Steve Gunn, and Hiss Golden Messenger. As a solo artist, Bowles’ recordings, like 2016′s Whole & Cloven and 2018′s Plainly Mistaken, largely feature clawhammer banjo and drums, his two primary instruments, which he employs in ways both traditional and avant-garde. After a joint 2021 album with Bill MacKay, he put together a trio to make 2024′s Are Possible, which was released by Drag City. Originally of Blacksburg, Virginia, Bowles became something of a journeyman collaborator occupying an esoteric lane that grew out of traditional folk music but embraced improvisation and experimentation. Beginning in the early 2000s, he could be heard playing various instruments on albums by Spiral Joy Band, Pelt, and Jack Rose, as well as his own group, the pioneering experimental string band the Black Twig Pickers, who recorded extensively for labels like VHF and Thrill Jockey. Bowles made his first solo recording with 2012′s A Bottle, A Buckeye, where his talents as a banjo player and composer were evident. He continued working both with the Black Twig Pickers and playing in other artists’ bands while delivering the occasional solo project, including 2014′s Nansemond, his first for the Paradise of Bachelors label. Bowles eventually based himself in Durham, North Carolina, and continued to play a major role in the region’s folk and experimental scenes. He released two more albums for Paradise of Bachelors, Whole & Cloven (2016) and Plainly Mistaken (2018), the latter of which blended his banjo playing and drumming with piano, tape loops, and drone elements. He also played on records by Steve Gunn, Rosali, Michael Chapman, Jake Xerxes Fussell, and Joan Shelley, often serving in their touring bands as well. In 2021, Bowles joined the Drag City roster and released Keys, a duo album with Bill MacKay. That same year, the Black Twig Pickers returned with another LP, Friend’s Peace, on VHF Records. After contributing to albums by Pelt and Sally Anne Morgan, he formed a trio featuring himself on banjo along with double bassist Casey Toll and drummer Rex McMurry. Billed as the Nathan Bowles Trio, they released 2024′s Are Possible. ~ Timothy Monger