The Handsome Family w/ Paul Fonfara at Cedar Cultural Center

Returning to The Cedar after five long years, The Handsome Family bring their western gothic and a new release "Hollow."

The Handsome Family (songwriting and marriage partners Brett and Rennie Sparks) have been defining the dark end of americana for over 30 years. Brett writes the music and Rennie writes the words. Their work has been covered by many artists including Jeff Tweedy, Andrew Bird and most-recently Phoebe Bridgers. Their song “Far From Any Road” was the opening theme for HBO’s True Detective season one and still receives thousands of Shazams every week from all over the world.

Paul Fonfara is a composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and all-around nice guy who keeps himself pretty damn busy. While he writes all sorts of music and plays a ton of instruments, his songs carry a unifying thread of the cinematic, that pulls from spaghetti western, Balkan folk, film noire spy jazz, modern chamber music and gutter blues sounds. Think Ennio Morricone drinking cheap boxed wine. Eric Satie with a splinter in his big toe. Andrew Bird stuck in an episode of Twin Peaks. When solo, he plays guitars, clarinet, piano, whistles, and sings songs for the underdogs. Heart felt, cathartic with a tinge of the absurd.