Erwilian

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Singles & EPs

About Erwilian

A lush combination of acoustic new age, Celtic, and world music elements, Seattle ensemble Erwilian enjoyed some regional success in the late 2000s and early 2010s, releasing a pair of independent studio albums and a live set. The group of multi-instrumentalists garnered international attention in 2015 when they collaborated with new age artists Ricky Kej & Wouter Kellerman on their Grammy-winning Winds of Samsara album. Their newfound popularity helped Erwilian's 2019 EP reach the number one spot on Billboard's New Age chart. The band was founded in 2000 when high school English teacher Scott Melton (guitar) began collaborating with one of his students, Jordan Buetow (recorder, woodwinds). The duo began to recruit additional acoustic players and over the next couple of years performed at various school concerts under the name Wood, Wind, and Wire. As some of the students involved began to graduate and move on, Melton and Buetow continued to develop the project with outside players including Melton's wife, Bethel Melton (hammered dulcimer), and two of their friends, Robert Schuweiler (mandolin) and Scott Milliron (guitar). Renaming themselves Erwilian in 2004, they independently released their first album, Renovata, a year later. Their instrumental acoustic blend drew from folk, classical, and the less-synthetic side of new age music. They continued to expand, adding percussionist Jeff Reed and another guitarist, Bill Bowser, to the mix. In 2007, Erwilian played their first holiday concert, which over the coming years would become a popular annual tradition for the band, resulting in the 2009 live recording Midwinter's Night. Now gigging regularly around the Pacific Northwest, Erwilian continued to compose new material and in 2012, released their second studio album, Light from Darkness. They also continued to swell in size, adding multi-instrumentalists Malcom Lee (bass, guitar) and Matt Garcia (harp, bass, guitar) to the mix. After the 2014 cancer-related death of percussionist Reed, Erwilian again shifted personnel with Bowser departing and John Hintze and Keely Rendle joining on percussion and violin, respectively. Around this time, the band collaborated with international composers Ricky Kej and Wouter Kellerman on the duo's Winds of Samsara. The album went on to win a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album in 2015. Additional collaborations followed, including another with Kellerman on his Grammy-nominated 2016 release, Love Language, and a children's album, Songs for Little Ones, by Canadian artist Charlie Hope. The band's heightened exposure served them well when, in September 2019, their self-released Advent EP debuted at number one on the Billboard New Age chart and number 26 on the Independent Albums chart. ~ Timothy Monger

ORIGIN
Seattle, WA, United States
FORMED
2004
GENRE
New Age

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