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16 Horsepower (David Eugene Edwards - vocals, concertina, guitar, banjo, hurdy-gurdy; Jean-Yves Tola - drums, piano; Stephen Taylor - lead guitar; Pascal Humbert - stand-up bass) have built up a huge fan base in America and Europe since their inception in the early '90s. David Eugene Edwards and Jean-Yves Tola met in 1992 while working as carpenters at producer Roger Corman's L.A. studio. The two young musicians discovered they had much in common, and soon relocated to Denver where they began 16 Horsepower. The band released a self-titled EP on Ricochet. Soon after. they recorded their debut LP, Sackcloth & Ashes for A&M which brought them widespread acclaim.
In 1998, the band released Low Estate, their second for A&M. It garnered much critical praise and attention both abroad and in 16 Horsepower's lastest release on Checkered Past Records, is "Hoarse", an incendiary album of all-live material. Featuring excerpts from performances in Denver and Paris, Hoarse perfectly captures the grit and grace of this truly powerful band.
"David Eugene Edwards and his melancholia-drenched posse of LA dreamers prefer the dark grandeur that only comes with mournful swathes of countrified guitar, of heavy-hearted violins, pianos and accordions, of lonesome banjo picking and Ennio Morricone tautness. Add a dash of Dylanesque roots-philosophy and the result is a forlorn dustbowl saloon bar where Nick Cave woefully sinks bourbons with the Gun Club only moments after a loved one's funeral parade." --Darren Johns, New Musical Express
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A combination of traditional and electric instruments with David Eugene Edwards' passionate, ghostly John Fogerty-meets-Bono tenor as the whip that urges the band forward, 16 Horsepower takes the listener into the eye of a hurricane just before the sun dares to peek through an angry sky.
the U.S. Entertainment Weekly extolled the band's intense, caterwauling sound, noting that they "channel the soul of Appalachian goth...using banjos and 