Roadkill Ghost Choir was an American alternative rock band from

DeLand, Florida DeLand is a city in and the county seat of Volusia County, Florida, United States. The city sits approximately north of the central business district of Orlando, and approximately west of the central business district of Daytona Beach. It is ...

. In January 2014, they performed on ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...

'', and had notable appearances at

Bonnaroo Bonnaroo (or Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival) is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Bonnaroo has taken place at what is now Great Stage Park, a 700-acre (280 ha) far ...

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza () is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, with Chicago becoming its permanent location beginning in 2005. Music genres i ...

and

Governors Ball The Governors Ball Music Festival (commonly known as Governors Ball or Gov Ball) is a multi-day music festival held in New York City. Launched in 2011 by Jordan Wolowitz, Tom Russell, Yoni Reisman, the festival features an array of genres and ...

festivals. In August 2014, the band released their debut full-length album ''In Tongues'', produced by

Doug Boehm Doug Boehm (born November 4, 1969) is an American record producer and sound engineer who specializes predominantly in the rock music genre and has worked in collaboration with Rob Schnapf on a number of occasions. He produced the releases of th ...

(

Powderfinger Powderfinger were an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their break-up in 2010, the line-up consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bass guitarist John Collins ...

, The Vines,

Booker T. Jones Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artis ...

). Their sound was once described as "combining the experimental edge of

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

and the dusty roots-rock of

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the leader and frontman of the Rock music, rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s sup ...

, tailor-made for arena-sized, prog-rock festivals and grassy, pastoral stages alike."

Overview

Forming in 2011, the band released their debut EP, ''Quiet Light'', in 2012. Self-released, the mastering and printing of the record was supported by a successful Kickstarter campaign. “Quiet Light” premiered on

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

and received positive critical acclaim from outlets such as

Absolute Punk ''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to featur ...

an
The Dropp
In January 2014 the band was invited to perform on ''

'', where they performed standout track “Beggar’s Guild.” They also were one of the bands handpicked to join the inaugura
Communion Presents
Tour Dates, an artist showcase curated by Mumford and Sons' Ben Lovett. Their debut full-length album, ''In Tongues'', was released 19 August 2014 to wide critical acclaim. Recorded in their home studio and produced by

, the album received exclusive streams on Consequence of Sound and Paste Magazine, as well as positive reviews from

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

SPIN Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

Relix ''Relix'', originally and occasionally later ''Dead Relix'', is a magazine that focuses on live and improvisational music. The magazine was launched in 1974 as a handmade newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead concer ...

an
In Your Speakers
Rolling Stone's Cady Drell noted that Andrew Shepard's vocals on the opening track "make him sound like the latter-day

he's been pitched as”, and that "synths and roiling surf rock guitars illuminate fans' flattering comparisons of Shepard to

My Morning Jacket My Morning Jacket is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Jim James, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist Carl Broemel, and keyboardist Bo Kos ...

's Jim James”. Similarly, Justin Jacobs of Relix magazine stated “Roadkill Ghost Choir hit the sweet spot between

Mumford & Sons Mumford & Sons are a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, double bass, bass guitar), and Ben Lovett (British musician), B ...

’ power-folk and

’s passionate post-Southern rock.” The band split in May 2019, playing a farewell show at the Caledonia Lounge in

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

Touring

The band toured with

Band of Horses Band of Horses is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 2004 in Seattle, Seattle, Washington. Led by singer-songwriter Ben Bridwell, who has been the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes, the band's current line ...

performing opening slots in 2013, and were featured at

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American Concert, live music Television show, television program recorded and produced by KLRU, Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", an ...

, New York's Governors Ball an
Shaky Knees
2014 saw festival inclusions at

Electric Forest Electric Forest is a multi-genre music festival produced by Madison House Presents and Insomniac Events, with a focus on electronic music and jam band genres. Originally named Rothbury Festival in 2008, it is held in Rothbury, Michigan at ...

and

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

, among others. They also joined the inaugura
Communion Presents
tour, alongside

Willy Mason Willy Mason (born November 21, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter. Early life and education Mason was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Jemima James and Michael Mason, both songwriters. Mason is a direct descendant of the 19t ...

, Yacht Club DJs and

Rubblebucket Rubblebucket is an American art-pop and indie-rock band from Brooklyn, New York. The primary members are a musical couple (now separated) Annakalmia Traver and Alex Toth. Formation Alex Toth (trumpet, band leader) and Kalmia Traver (vocals, sax ...

, stopping at nine cities in one month.

Band members

* Andrew Shepard – songwriter and singer * Stephen Garza – lead guitar * Zach Shepard – bass * Maxx Shepard – drums * Kiffy Myers – pedal steel, banjo Former members: * Joey Davoli – trumpet, keys, whistling

Discography

Studio albums

* ''In Tongues'' (2014) * ''False Youth Etcetera'' (2017)

Extended plays

* ''Quiet Light'' (2012) * ''Keep It Under Cover'' (2015)

References

{{Authority control Alternative rock groups from Florida