Pinetop Seven formed in 1996 as a loose collective of Chicago musicians whose lineup has never remained constant for long. To date, twenty three men and women have contributed to the records or participated as touring members over the group's 8 year / 5 album history. Despite the ever-changing cast, the vision has remained constant, and anchored by songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and singer Darren Richard, Pinetop Seven continues to quietly assemble compelling collages of sounds and words, mini-epics of storytelling and snapshots of an America that Norman Rockwell would never recognize.

The Night's Bloom continues the band's tradition of pairing abstract storytelling with an unusual musical sense that draws from many disparate sources: from John Fahey's "american primitives" like Skip James and Dock Boggs to the avant-garde musics of Harry Partch and Moondog. From the singer-songwriter laments of Jackson Frank and Tim Hardin to the haunted orchestrations of Angelo Badalamenti and Nino Rota. The cryptic tales are stark and personal, and bring to mind the narratives of Jim Jarmusch, Raymond Carver and John Fante. As a testament to the literary quality of the lyrics, several lines have been featured in the past three best-sellers by Irish author, John Connolly.

Pinetop Seven's music is cinematic in scope yet intimate and sincere in its awkward beauty. Their carnival of instrumentation includes as many found sounds and man-made instruments as it does legitimate ones. Marimbas, vibraphones, shoe-horns, loops, drones, accordions, melodicas, pipes, rhodes, pump organ, and an arsenal of clunky found percussion - all take their place next to more traditional acoustic guitars and drums, and are all employed with great inventiveness and deference to the song. Additionally, for this recording the band recruited a community chamber string ensemble to help render the elegant arrangements, giving this album a dignity and grace never fully realized with previous albums.

The Night's Bloom was recorded in the band's Chicago attic space, with fifteen musicians contributing to the effort. As with previous records, the band handled all engineering duties, recording on a 16 track analog tape machine and home computer. Given the unorthodox recording environment, the sounds of passing trains, sirens, and life from the city's streets outside bled through the windows and porous brick, onto the tape, leaving the city's subtle, yet indelible mark on the music.

Pinetop Seven has headlined across North America and Europe and has also toured in support of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Calexico and Will Oldham, among others. Pinetop Seven's previous albums have been lauded by the press, including Mojo, NPR, The Wire, and Uncut. The Night's Bloom is their 5th release.