Drunk

Drunk was a Jagjaguwar band fronted by Rick Alverson (now of Spokane, who are also signed to Jagjaguwar). They were probably the first "indie folk" band I had ever heard, dating back to my high school days of browsing Epitonic for random bands that seemed interesting. To say information about them is hard to turn up would be a pretty huge understatement. They sort of petered out right around when the internet was really taking off (their last release was 2000's Tableside Manners), and as such, there isn't much in the way of web history surrounding them.

In an interview with Alverson from 2002, he describes a number of reasons that he chose to stop recording as Drunk. Former collaborators were gone, he no longer liked the name, and decided that a fresh start with a new name was the best course of action.

The music is fairly typically Jagjaguwar: quiet, folk-inspired, slightly out of tune, and very sad. It was one of my first glimpses into a world of music like it, and though I wouldn't say it influenced my own songwriting directly, it certainly influenced the way I think about arrangement and mood. Both tracks here come from 1998's Raised Toward. Enjoy.

Drunk - A Mere Passerby

Drunk - Chatter