“They never look the same at the end of their set; a pair of hip horn-rimmed glasses breaks in half, buttons become undone, and their once slicked-back hair is simply not anymore. But they wouldn’t be themselves if it were any other way; they thrive when they render themselves void of energy, and humbly hope it rubs off on the kids in the crowd, too.
They are Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes. To see them live is to experience the crux of who they are: A high-energy indie rock band dead set on producing the best live sound they know how. And boy, do they know how.”

Daniel Ellswoth & The Great Lakes stop in Pittsburgh Sunday (10/19) at The Smiling Moose in support of their excellent latest album, “Kid Tiger“. Opening the show will be Baby Bee, Hey Comprade and Even in Persia. I want to thank Daniel Ellsworth (Keys), Timon Lance (Guitar), Marshall Skinner (Bass) and Joel Wren (Drums) for taking the time top participate in this edition of First/Last.

The first album you ever bought?

Daniel Ellsworth: On cassette, I don’t remember, probably a Beach Boys “Greatest Hits”. On CD, it was either Hootie & The Blowfish “Cracked Rear View” or Blues Traveler “Four”.

• Timon Lance: Buddy Holly’s “Greatest Hits”.
• Marshall Skinner: “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” Smashing Pumpkins.
• Joel Wren: Green Day “Insomniac”.
• Your last album bought?
• Daniel: I just bought the new solo album from Jeff Tweedy called “Sukierae” and the new Ryan Adams.
• Tim: Wilco “A.M.”
• Marshall: St. Vincent “St. Vincent” (my wife bought it on vinyl so I’m counting this as a purchase for me because I own the turntable).
• Joel: Elvis Costello “Taking Liberties”. Bought on the road in Brooklyn I think.
• Favorite album of all time?
• Daniel: Wilco: “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”.
• Tim: The Band “Cahoots”.
• Marshall: Bjork “Vespertine”.
• Joel: Nine Inch Nails “The Fragile”.
• Least favorite/most disappointing album?
• Daniel: I assume anything Justin Beiber has done. Album might be too strong of a word, though.
• Tim: Anything with a band covering a song by The Band.
• Marshall: I’m never really disappointed by albums, if they’re not good (in my opinion) I just don’t listen to them.
• Joel: Smashing Pumpkins “Zeitgeist”. It was their first studio album in forever and I was pretty excited. It pretty much sucked.
• First concert attended?
• Daniel: 5th grade. Neil Diamond.
• Tim: AC/DC, Gund Arena, Cleveland, OH.
• Marshall: Slipknot yea, Slipknot. I bought that ticket with my own money.
• Joel: Creed and Collective Soul. Whatever. They had pyro and at the time, my mind was blown.
• Last concert?
• Daniel: My good buddy Isaac Hayden had his CD Release Party on an island on a lake just outside of Nashville last week. I also recently saw Beck at The Ryman and it was mind blowing.
• Tim: Hopefully Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes on the Moon.
• Marshall: The Floorwalkers, Columbus Ohio Independence Day Festival.
• Joel: Beck at the Ryman, here in Nashville. It ruled. His band is/was insanely good.
• Favorite concert ever?
• Daniel: Wilco. Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN.
• Tim: Tom Waits, Alabama Theater, Birmingham, AL.
• Marshall: Local Natives, Bowery Ballroom CMJ 2013 pre-“Hummingbird” release show where they played a bunch of songs from the new album before it was out.
• Joel: Rage Against The Machine at Lollapalooza in ’08. I’m pretty sure it was one of like 3 shows that they played in the US that year. It was absolutely incredible.
• Least favorite concert?
• Daniel: We watched an entire EDM show at SXSW. It was hilarious. That entire genre should be renamed “that douchey wedding DJ that keeps playing the same song.” I’m not anti-computers in music. I’m just anti-not having an ounce of musical knowledge but I can press buttons on a computer.
• Tim: This EDM thing that I stumbled upon at SXSW.
• Marshall: Wu-Tang Clan. Method Man, RZA and Old Dirty Bastard didn’t show so all the songs got cut off before their parts.
• Joel: Back in the day, I saw Deftones in KC. They ruled, but Puddle of Mudd opened and they were probably the worst band I’ve ever seen live. I was only like 16 and I knew they were horrible live.
• Any thoughts, experiences about Pittsburgh?
• Daniel: This is our first time playing Pittsburgh. We have a lot of friends from there and have heard a lot of really great things. We can’t wait to experience it for the first time!
• Tim: I once bought a case of beer to go at an Italian restaurant at 1am in downtown Pittsburgh. Sometimes all you have to do is ask.
• Marshall: I’m really looking forward to playing a show in Pittsburgh. I lived so close to Pittsburgh growing up but never visited. Now I get to play a show there!
• Joel: I’ve never been there. I’m excited to experience what I can in the short time we’ll be there.

Thanks, fellas. Well, there go my plans to hike down to SXSW to debut my just formed EDM band… we play all Justin Bieber covers.