WATCH: The Horse's Head (Live in Studio)

9 years ago, we started this crazy art project called tomatoband in a quiet basement in Richmond, VA. One of the first songs we composed was “The Horse’s Head”, a ballad that perfectly captures those musty beginnings. People often ask us about the origins of our quirky songs and our responses are often deflective and cryptic, but why don’t we let down our guard a bit this morning, shall we? Here’s Charlie with the story: “Alex and I played every night. I would be finishing my dinner in the sunroom, talking with Grandmother about this and that, and he would appear like clockwork, often with a case of **la croix** under his arm, ready to go. We never even made plans; we didn’t need to. It was automatic. We would jam for hours, working up quite a thirst, and no doubt causing Grandmother to wonder just what the hell those boys were doing down there making all that noise. One evening, in the midst of a particularly lengthy session of sonic exploration, we retreated to the convivial confines of Grandmother’s kitchen for cookies and a Coca Cola (no, seriously). We could hear activity in the parlor, so we decided to investigate, finding Grandmother and her longtime friend, Bob, talking animatedly over a bronze bust of a horse’s head. Bob had brought the sculpture with him to show (and potentially sell to) my grandmother, who, it must be said, was NOT buying. Bob gave us a quick description of the piece, the sculptor’s name and such (hint: he’s famous) which we quickly forgot. The details are a bit hazy after that, maybe it was the cookies, but what I do remember is ‘heading’ back downstairs with a new song idea whizzing around in our heads. We sat down that evening and composed the music for a song that would become “The Horse’s Head”. Almost a decade later, we revived that very music, tweaked the lyrics to accurately recall the situation, and finally recorded a proper version. This song will always remind me of being 19 years old, gazing at a bronze statue in my grandmother’s living room. We didn’t watch TV, we played music.”

produced by: Ross Allen