Twain Band

twain

Twain is the singer/songwriter project of multi-instrumentalist Mat Davidson, onetime member of the Low Anthem and Spirit Family Reunion. Consistently melodic and brittle, Twain's material has spanned experimental lo-fi and intimate indie folk.

Hailing from Franklin County, Virginia, Davidson began recording as Twain in the mid-2000s. He self-released the albums Sleeping Tree and Almanack before joining indie folk group the Low Anthem in 2009 as bassist/multi-instrumentalist. Still making time for Twain, he put out Love Is All Around in July 2010, then appeared on the Low Anthem's 2011 LP, Smart Flesh, before leaving the group later that year. While with the Low Anthem, he also joined Americana outfit Spirit Family Reunion on fiddle, leaving that band in early 2014 to refocus on Twain.

Twain has come up a few times in the Big Thief thread and on a couple EOTY lists, but from what I can tell, he's flown pretty under the radar here. Davidson's solo stuff first popped on my radar with Rare Feeling from 2017, which I think is one of the single best records of the 2010s. He's put out two albums since, including Noon, which just came out this past October to little fanfare but is excellent. (It also opens with one of the most achingly pretty songs of last year if you're looking for a place to start.)

riyl: 60s/70s folk, Fleet Foxes, Big Thief

 

Read this as Train, then hoped it was about Shania.

Will listen, though.

 

The Alternator EP is what first got me hooked. Really love his songs that are just straightforward solo acoustic


Here’s a playlist he recently posted that is a bunch of songs he’s featured on

twain/assists

 

he took requests the other night, was awesome