50 Bands in 50 Days – Day 11: Hand of the Hills

Welcome one and all to the 11th day of 50 Bands in 50 Days, where we’re turning you onto some of the best talent in the Pacific Northwest, one day at a time, presented by GigTown. Today we’re turning you on to a pretty fantastic Seattle supergroup of sorts, Hand of the Hills.

After a successful Kickstarter campaign in the fall of 2014 to send their album to press, Seattle rock band Hand of the Hills released it out into the world. The album is the culmination of the collaboration between songwriter David Totten (Quiet Ones, Scriptures) and multi-instrumentalist Matt Benham (A Breakthrough in Field Studies, Argo). Finding common influences in the textures of psychedelic and schizophrenic prog rock of the 60’s and 70’s, as well as the melodies of indie-folk music, they began to write songs containing a mixture of elements that are both strange and familiar.

There is riffage and ambience, wandering guitar lines and shredding solos, screaming vocal melodies and soft background vocal pads. Their debut LP features Erin Tate (ex-Minus the Bear) on drums, and Eli Thomson (Everest) on bass, and was co-produced with Matt Bayles (Mastodon, ISIS).

Hand of the Hills has opened for such acts as Cursive, The Autumn Defense, Everest, and recently finished a short-run tour opening for Blitzen Trapper.

Hand of the Hills is one of the most exciting and refreshing rock bands coming out of the Emerald City, and are essential for anyone looking for a new eccentric rock band to sink their teeth into.

For Fans of: Foxygen, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Kurt Vile

You can follow the band on Facebook and Twitter, and listen to their music below.