Douglas McCombs

Douglas Andrew McCombs is a bassist and guitarist from Chicago, known for playing in long-running alternative rock band Eleventh Dream Day and being a founding member of Tortoise, Brokeback, and other groups associated with the post-rock scene. His guitar playing is often fluid and expansive, though it can be dissonant and challenging on occasion. Along with his Tortoise bandmates, he helped pioneer an ever-evolving form of experimental, mainly instrumental rock that drew from dub, minimalism, ambient, Krautrock, and countless other forms of music. In contrast to the noisy, driving work of the post-punk-inspired Eleventh Dream Day, Brokeback is subtler and more pastoral, particularly taking influence from Spaghetti Western soundtracks, while also incorporating elements of jazz, experimental electronics, and other sounds. Under his own name, he's released two albums of sprawling studio improvisations with guitarist David Daniell, as well as the 2022 solo effort VMAK