Tall Tall Trees (band)

Not to be confused with Tall, Tall Trees.
Tall Tall Trees
Background information
OriginLong Island, New York
GenresIndie folk, experimental, psychedelic, bluegrass
InstrumentBanjo
Years active2009-present
LabelsJoyful Noise Recordings
MembersMike Savino
Websitetalltalltrees.com

Tall Tall Trees is the musical pseudonym of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist banjo player Mike Savino. Though occasionally joined by collaborators, Savino usually performs as a "one-man psychedelic indie-folk orchestra" when playing as Tall Tall Trees. He is acknowledged as a pioneer in the world of experimental banjo music.[1] The name of the project was inspired by the George Jones-Roger Miller song of the same name.[2]

Savino calls his home-brewed, custom-built instrument/equipment set-up the "Banjotron 5000." He built it himself in order to be able to solo at live-shows. He runs his banjo "through a slab of effects pedals and loopers, bowing, drumming, and strumming out multi-textured arrangements to support his lyrically driven songs."[3]

Stylistically, Tall Tall Trees as a, "a vital collision between Elliott Smith and Rogue Wave"[3] or compared to, "a new age Cat Stevens with dreamy harmonies."[4] Influenced by Deer Tick and Fleet Foxes, Tall Tall Trees is most easily classified as "indie-folk" but the scope of Savino's formal experimentation and the complexity of the soundscapes created trouble the boundaries of this easy genre-definition.[3]

  1. ^ "tall tall trees". Joyfulnoiserecordings.com. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  2. ^ "Tall Tall Trees | Biography & History | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  3. ^ a b c "Tall Tall Trees: Freedays". PopMatters. 2017-02-17. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  4. ^ "Tall Tall Trees' Shimmering, Pastoral Folk". No Depression. 2017-02-04. Retrieved 2018-07-11.