The Handsome Family (songwriting and marriage partners Brett and Rennie Sparks) have
been dening the dark end of Americana for over 30 years. Brett writes the music and
Rennie writes the words. Their work has been covered by many artists including Jeff
Tweedy, Andrew Bird and Phoebe Bridgers. Their song “Far From Any Road” was the
opening theme for HBO’s True Detective (season one) and still receives thousands of
Shazams every week from all over the world.
Asked to describe their music Brett says, “Western gothic” — music inspired by the
abandoned strip malls of desert America where thorny weeds slowly reclaim the land.
Handsome Family songs may be dark, but there’s always laughter on stage. Rennie sings
as well as plays banjo and bass. She often introduces songs with seemingly unrelated
stories. Brett, with his deep baritone and stentorian presence, is the undeniable center of
stage. The two are joined on-stage by multi-instrumentalists Alex McMahon (electric
guitar, pedal steel) and Jason Toth (percussion and Omnichord).
The Handsome Family’s latest record Hollow (Sept, 2023) began with a scream in the
night. “One night around 4 a.m.,” Brett says. “Rennie started screaming in her sleep. She
screamed, ‘Come into the circle Joseph! There’s no moon tonight.’ Scary as it was, I
thought, man, that’s a good chorus!”
Hollow delves into the natural world at the edges of the man-made. It is a record lush
with leaves and shadows and occult mystery. The dream-inspired “Joseph”is followed by
the haunting “Two Black Shoes” which lters a Portishead groove through the highway
motels, homeless encampments and McMansions of post-pandemic America. The album
closes with “Good Night,” a lullaby that at once soothes and threatens. Brett sings, “Time
for Santa to sharpen his claws / Time for skin walkers / Time for the saw…”
“My proudest musical moments,” says Brett. “Are the check Richard Starkey wrote to
buy all our cds and the words, “The Handsome Family” written in David Bowie’s last
notebook. “There’s been a lot of smashed coffee cups in our house over the years,”
Rennie says, “but we’re still unable to resist the urge to make music.”
VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/@TheHandsomeFamilyOcial/videos
PHOTOS: https://apple-shark-by4a.squarespace.com/cong/pages
REVIEWS: https://www.metacritic.com/music/hollow/the-handsome-family
CONTACT: handsomefamily@mindspring.com