GHOSTS I'VE MET Featuring players from Modest Mouse, Built to Spill, Sleater-Kinney, Sparklehorse and Actual Tigers, Ghosts I've Met is composed mostly of former Seattleites, some of whom now live in Brooklyn. The group's contemplative, melancholy tunes never descend into nostalgia or self-pity—fitting for a band that requires a cross-country trip just to practice together. Though never officially released, the album the band recorded at Kitty Wells' studio in 2005 garnered significant airplay on venerable Seattle indie station KEXP. They retuned to Wells' studio a few months ago and recorded another record, providing fodder for this cross-country tour, the band's first. Though sometimes compared to Ryan Adams, Ghosts I've Met eschew the mercurial troubadour's erratic flashes of listenability in favor of an even, expansive sound that nearly always succeeds in its intentions. If the alt-country scene is a house party, Ghosts I've Met aren't the drunk guy in the lampshade. Rather, they're the quiet guy in the corner spinning fascinating yarns for anyone with the attention span to listen. —BEN WESTHOFF

Much like Whiskeytown in their prime, Ghosts I've Met balance out a sincere delivery of late-night head-on-the-bar boozing songs and slow-burning love ballads for the brokenhearted. What's even more impressive is that this wonderful sound comes from a brand-new band without a record on the shelves.

"It's our first tour as a band, so we're starting out with just our five-song tour EP, from there we're going to work up to a full-length," says frontman Sam Watts, calling from a tour van slicing through the wasteland of mid-Texas.

For a band with no backing and only a few songs under their belt, Ghosts I've Met have been enjoying their initial tour, thanks in most part to the rich pedigree of musicians in the band. Guitarist Ben Blankenship spent time in Modest Mouse, cellist Brent Arnold used to front a band (Brent Arnold & the Spheres) that was released on fabled indie Up Records, and violinist Margaret White tours alongside two of rock's most intriguing personalities, Cat Power and Sparklehorse.

With all this talent on one stage, Watts & Co. have their sights aimed high, and are ready to leave the bar for better things. "We've been doing a lot less country," he says. "I think I've been pretty happy trying to steer the ship away from the sad, sad, lonely three-chord blues." Just as long as that steering keeps the band far away from Ryan Adams, they'll be fine.-Ezra Ace Cardiff

In the world of the Americana/alt country/folk sound, there’s enough bland bands & singer song writers out there to make you think that the genre is about all dried up. While most of it is generic at best or lacking any real emotion, my faith in the sound that i used to love has been wearing thin.
But PATIENCE it seems has a way of paying off. I just recently discovered the project from Sam Watts called Ghosts I’ve Met and he has a new Ep titled "Payphone Patience". It’s tracks are filled with simple tenderly crafted arrangements, the highlight of which is the title track off the EP "Payphone Patience". In my book it’s already in the running for best song of 2008!! Another standout is "Ghost in the Snow" with it’s beautiful backround vocals and sorrow filled violin.

Although Ghosts just released the Ep earlier this month Watts will head back into the studio in April to work on a new full length with some of the same players from the Ep,namely Darren Jessee. It will be called "Gunpowder City" & recording is taking place in the West Texas town of Marfa.

-Burn The Bowery