Elliott

Elliott is an influential post-hardcore band from Louisville, Kentucky, who formed in 1995 and released three full length albums, two eps, and one live album. All three of Elliott’s albums are unique and powerful; with the evolution between them seemless as the band matured. Elliott have a sound that is uniquely theirs – driving guitars, powerful drums, piano, strings, and iconic soaring vocals. Comparisons are impossible but influences have often been cited as Sunny Day Real Estate, Fugazi, Radiohead, and Quicksand.

The band toured consistently until their break up in 2003 and in 2022 they reformed with their original guitarist, Jay Palumbo (By The Grace of God, 32 Frames), and have been playing shows delighting fans far and wide. Higdon played in other bands during their interim (Frontiers) and currently also fronts Mirrorless. Whilst Ratterman (Wax Fang, Twin Limb) built a successful career as a producer (My Morning Jacket, Murder By Death, Ray Lamontagne, Andrew Bird). The current formation of Elliott has added Ashli State on bass (Guilt, Ink & Dagger) to round out this incredible fourpiece.

Elliott’s first album (1998) seemed like a perfect storm of the melodies of Falling Forward and the passion of Empathy, the two guitarists’ prior bands - powered by undoubtedly one of the most incredible drummers of the entire genre. Kevin Ratterman’s drumming left audiences then, as it still does now, spellbound with its intensity, emotion and precision. This album, along with their relentless touring schedule, catapulted them to be one of the most respected and popular bands in the emo/post-hardcore world.

                Elliott's 2000 album, “False Cathedrals,” is a sophisticated, elegant, and epic rock album that moved away from the band's post-hardcore roots. It’s characterized by ghostly melodies and dynamic emotional shifts in songs that captured old and new fans alike.  It introduced the use of piano and Higdon’s unimitable vocals soar with introspective lyrics laden with emotion. This album ushered them to a more mainstream audience outside of the hardcore world and their popularity grew tenfold with its release.

Song in the Air (2003) continued in a similar direction, with expanded instrumentation, including strings from the group Rachel's, shimmering guitars, and keyboards. It is a beautiful, atmospheric album that ascends with lush soundscapes and Higdon’s vocals sounding more ethereal than ever. This beautiful and immersive masterpiece was sadly the last album Elliott recorded. A live album (Photorecording) and a compilation of their eps and unreleased instrumentals (Songs In a Transit Wind) followed post-humously.

With their current line-up Elliott have been delighting their devoted fans for the past few years with their intense, charismatic, powerful live performances. Elliott have more touring in the works and hope to continue to connect with their audiences in the future as they further cement their place in the world of post-hardcore as one of the legacy bands of the emo genre.