Vetiver

Vetiver are commonly lumped into the nascent freak folk movement alongside the likes of Joanna Newsom and Six Organs of Admittance, thanks to leader Andy Cabics friendship with scene founder Devendra Banhart. (Besides Banharts musical contributions to Vetivers first two albums, Cabic co-wrote Banharts breakout song At the Hop, from 2004s Rejoicing in the Hands; on the same album, Banhart paid tribute to his friends band in the song When the Sun Shone on Vetiver.) However, the bands roots go deeper than Syd Barrett and Linda Perhacs, encompassing the U.K. shoegazer scene and the mid-90s D.I.Y. indie rock scene. Cabic was part of the latter, forming the Raymond Brake in his native Greensboro, North Carolina in the early 90s. The Raymond Brakes noisy, Sonic Youth-influenced take on indie rock was a natural fit with both the Chapel Hill art-punk scene and the influential Washington D.C. indie Simple Machines, which released the bands debut album Piles of Dirty Winters in 1995. After a handful of EPs and one more album, 1996s Never Work Ever, the Raymond Brake broke up and Cabic migrated westward, eventually settling in San Francisco. While studying at the San Francisco Art Institute, Cabic met fellow student Banhart and instantly established a close working relationship with the bearded sprite. While playing live gigs with Banhart, Newsom and others, Cabic started writing songs for his new project Vetiver, named for an Asian relative of lemongrass thats used in perfume making. Adding Banhart on guitar and backing vocals, Jim Gaylord on violin, and Alissa Anderson on cello behind Cabics vocals, banjo, and acoustic guitar, Vetiver released its first, self-titled, album on the DiCristina label in 2004. (The album, produced by Thom Monahan of the Pernice Brothers, also included guest spots by Newsom, Mazzy Stars Hope Sandoval, and former My Bloody Valentine drummer Colm OCiosoig.) Vetiver was followed in 2005 by a stopgap odds and sods collection called Between that included two live tracks, plus a new version of a song from Vetiver and a cover of Fleetwood Macs Save Me a Place. For Vetivers second full-length album, 2006s To Find Me Gone, Cabic finally added a drummer, Otto Hauser, and bassist Kevin Barker to the core trio of himself, Banhart, and Anderson. After the album was released, Cabic introduced a full time, stable recording and touring lineup of himself, Anderson, Hauser, new guitarist Sanders Tripp, and new bassist Brent Dunne.