Photo by Michael Benson
Formed in 2004, The Old Ceremony has survived longer than many marriages. They’ve reinvented themselves again and again, beginning as an eleven-piece mini-orchestra, slimming down to a five-piece touring machine. Songwriter and vocalist/guitarist Django Haskins’ gift for incisive, colorful lyrics and melodies is on full display throughout, whether it be an unhinged first-person tale of shooting Andy Warhol or the melancholy last act of a long-closeted politician. He writes with empathy and precision that occasionally calls to mind the source of the band’s name, Leonard Cohen, among others.
In “Lonely Mayor,” noirish vibraphone and tenor sax usher the listener into a bygone, grittier New York, the city of Ed Koch, the inspiration for this song about a man always running: for office, to the next hurdle, from his hidden self. “He’s in, he’s out/Of power now/He’s ready to begin,” the minor sounding refrain offers. “He chose his fate/He’s much too late/The city shrugs again.” The song simultaneously swaggers with urban attitude and mourns for the hero, who has lost something important along the road to worldly success.
The Old Ceremony has seen their share of highlights: sharing bills with the Jayhawks, CAKE, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Mountain Goats, Chuck Berry, Giant Sand, and many more; touring the U.S., Canada, and Europe; building their stature in the fertile Chapel Hill/Durham scene one cinematic performance at a time. Meanwhile band leader Django Haskins in addition to participating in the Big Star tribute tours, co-wrote and recorded an album of Folk-Rock originals with the Jayhawks’ Gary Louris under the name ‘Au Pair.’
Follow The Old Ceremony on Spotify, Instagram, Facebook, and their official website.
