The Drowning Men

The Drowning Men | Oceanside, CA With their sleeve-length tattoos and stevedore swagger, one might mistake the members of The Drowning Men for blue-collar dockworkers in their hometown of Oceanside, CA. Perhaps they were longshoremen in another life, but in this one they are every bit a rock and roll group in the classic sense, a band of brothers who joined together to form an extended community and a family. Formed in 2006 by grade school friends Nato, Rory, and James, the Drowning Men amplified their initial sound by adding Todd on bass guitar and Gabriel on keyboards. The line-up complete, the band proceeded to experiment with their multi-flavored musical influences, blending folk and roots Americana with sing-along sea shanties and pirate chants, with side forays into Eastern European ethnic folk delivered with the rhythmic complexity of a Brecht-Weill opera. “I love theatrical melodies and swells, and the purity of folk music from around the world”, explains Nato, the band’s main lyricist and songwriter, whose personal influences include Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and the bleak poetry of Nick Cave, who’s novel And the Ass Saw the Angel inspired the band’s name. Wi... more...