Artist Of The Week: Mumford & Sons

Momentum has been steadily growing for this West London, England band in the U.S. since the stateside release of their debut album Sigh No More back in February. We grabbed the band to set up, play live and chat at our studio.

If Mumford & Sons haven’t made it into your ears yet, here’s your chance to get in while the getting’s good. If I had to give you an idea of who they remind me of, I guess I’d say The Waterboys meet The Pogues. The band, Marcus Mumford, Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett and Winston Marshall started it all back in the Fall of 2007. Before releasing their debut album Sigh No More, produced by Marcus Dravs (Arcade Fire, Bjork, The Maccabees), they warmed up with three 10″ EP’s and during that time gained a reputation for their amazing, energetic live shows. When they did their headline show at Webster Hall in NYC (which was the legendary Ritz back “in the day”), whether they played songs from the album or a few new tunes, not yet released, the audience moved about and sang the words to each! “ We wanted the songs that were big and loud, to be proud and unrelenting in their drive.
” Marcus Mumford

When the band stopped by our studio on Feb.17, 2010 for this session, they had a full support staff of label folks from Glassnote and Red Distribution.  They would also make their U.S. television debut on The Late Show With David Letterman later in the day. I was told by label head Daniel Glass, that the band was nervous about the Letterman appearance, which they hid pretty well! I was happy when I was sent a message later in the day, that their visit to Last.fm Discover had relaxed them and put them at ease for the Late Show taping.

The guys held nothing back when they performed for us. What you hear on the air and see on video is a pretty accurate idea of what you get from Mumford & Sons, in a very intimate setting. They did “Little Lion Man,” “The Cave,” “Awake My Soul” and a newer song, as of yet not released, simply called “Untitled,” for now.

What did you think of the band’s performance? Hit us up in the comments and let us know.