The Howard Brothers (formerly “The Cross-Eyed Possum”) is a project dedicated to combining the musical journeys and perspective-defining outdoor adventures of twins Jason and Jonah Howard. Winners of the 2022 “Pickin in the Pines Band Contest,” the project has embarked on several cross country tours connecting the dots between bluegrass and acoustic music festivals, including the aforementioned Pickin In The Pines, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Huck Finn Jubilee, and more.
Since they were young, the twins have created with one another. Through drawing, adventuring, music, etc, a partnership was conceived at the beginning. Although there were not many instruments around them early on, there was always music playing around the house. Crosby Stills and Nash, Pearl Jam, Steely Dan, and Miles Davis were an all waking hours endeavor. Folk and Rock became the standout music of their first instrumental undertakings.
Later inspired by years of study in Jazz and Classical music programs alongside outdoor adventures (for example Jason's living in a van in the forest during college), the brothers' music began to take on more of a chameleonic tonality, attempting to weave complex chord progressions under melodies like the jagged mountains they saw under sweet blue skies. They wanted to go to places unexpected and unknown, like peering around the corner of a great rock into the maw of some unexplored yet strangely inviting desert valley. Their goals reflect this sense of adventure both creatively and within the planning of their tours.
The two new forthcoming projects, an album and an EP, focus on a more dedicated effort towards the twins' recent study of poetry and storytelling and most presently a melding of their individual creative strengths. There has always been a focus on harmony singing in the project but they have recently begun the journey into writing and singing full songs this way. Jason has also recently undertaken many challenging techniques on the upright bass to create an almost “one man band” type solo project entitled “Great Blue Heron,” in which the bass becomes chords, countermelody, and drums alongside his vocal and harmonica played melodies. Alongside similar rhythmic and melodic techniques Jonah has created for his own solo project, the project has embraced a whole new theory for groove and timbre. The twins have combined and sifted through these techniques to reach a higher level of their duo playing, writing and performance. With the presence of a full band and the dynamic/twin enabled intimacy of appearing as an almost singular solo artist at times, the new album and EP are slated to be the twin's most creative undertakings together yet.
The tours the brothers have put together in the past have been wild opportunities for the adventurous mindset they share. Mostly finding off grid places to camp in between shows in their trusty converted van, there has been no shortage in campfire cooks, foraging food in tide pools, overland climbing adventures, and meeting so many new friends along the way. They have traveled up, down, and across the span of United States as well as through a bit of Mexico and Canada in the process. The upcoming season of tour planning includes ideas for adventures that go beyond the brothers' level of comfort and towards life experience, inspired by the wanderings of the likes of Abbey, Kerouac, and the stealthy endeavors of Steve Wallis. Upcoming ideas include taking an Amtrak train between cities on the scenic West Coast, a longboat through the canals and between the pubs of the UK, and biking across the country with the littlest instruments they can find strapped to their backs.
Stay tuned for these coming Albums and tour adventures (to be filmed on our YouTube channel) by giving The Howard Brothers a follow on their social media, YouTube, and email list. They can't wait to share everything they've been working on. To see previous adventures filmed, visit their VanLifeBandLife YouTube Channel.
