Lost in the Trees: Fireplace

Lost in the TreesLost in the Trees is a folk orchestra from Chapel Hill NC, led by composer/songwriter Ari Picker. Picker began writing songs in his bedroom at age 15 and quickly went on to front several indie pop bands during his teenage years. All along, Ari was working on solo recordings under the name Lost in the Trees. Many of these recordings were done almost secretly and the output was an eerie mix of lonely bedroom folk songs, lo-fi sound collages, and film score compositions.

In 2006, Ari left his longtime band and home to study Film Music at Berklee School of Music in Boston and focus on Lost in the Trees recordings. After a couple years at Berklee, Picker began to more fully realize what he was capable of in his compositions. This period yielded the critically-lauded Time Taunts Me EP, a staggering collection of lush orchestral compositions coupled with folk passages and rhythmic intensity.

Upon releasing the EP, Ari headed back to North Carolina and began assembling members of the Trekky Records Collective, other members of the Chapel Hill music scene, and professional orchestra players to bring his ornate compositions to life. The live band filled out the songs with violin, viola, cello, tuba, french horn, euphonium, trombone, trumpet, accordion, singing saw, mandolin, glockenspiel, bass, drums, and guitar.

In September, 2008 the band released All Alone in an Empty House, an intensely personal and meditative reflection on Ari’s family and childhood. The music shows Picker fully realizing and extending his compelling synthesis of American folk and traditional classical music and showing that disparate musical styles really stem from a common voice.

Since the release of All Alone in an Empty House, Lost in the Trees have toured relentlessly, playing shows alongside such like-minded artists and friends as The Rosebuds, Bowerbirds, Efterklang, Bell, Megafaun, The Physics of Meaning and Midtown Dickens. From small town to city, from DIY space to theater, Lost in the Trees have won over audiences with their honest performance that ranges from hushed folk confessions to bombastic celebratory sing-alongs.

Picker is currently writing the follow-up to Empty House and will begin recording in August. Lost in the Trees is touring this summer in support of Empty House and will also be debuting new material along the way.     [papergarden records]

[audio:https://insomniaradio.net/audio/dailydose/irdd-lostinthetrees-fireplace.mp3]

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