This husband-wife duo call themselves "Ordinary Elephant" but the're not really elephants and they're sure not ordinary. They stumbled into one of Sacred Grounds' Open Mic nights in 2015 and have been invited back each year thereafter.
Ordinary Elephant Live at Sacred Grounds, Friday, May 31, 2019, 7 to 9 pm. Advance tickets available.
International Folk Music Awards 2017 Artist of the Year Ordinary Elephant captivates audiences with their emotionally powerful and vulnerable songs, letting the listener know that they are not alone in this world. The collaboration of husband and wife Pete and Crystal Damore, their connection, and their influences (such as Gillian Welch, Guy Clark, Anais Mitchell) all meet on stage. "Two become one, in song...hand-in-glove harmonies surprise the listener with focused intensity and musical mastery," says Mary Gauthier. Their forthcoming album was recorded in Nashville with producer Neilson Hubbard (Mary Gauthier, Sam Baker). Nashville studio staples Will Kimbrough (guitar) and Michael Rinne (bass) tastefully contribute only what is needed, letting the songs speak for themselves.
After growing up a state apart, Crystal in Louisiana and Pete in Texas, the two found each other at a weekly songwriter night in Bryan, Texas in late 2009. After a couple of years of co-writing and developing their sound, Ordinary Elephant brought their music to Houston with a move in late 2011. They recorded their 2013 debut album ‘Dusty Words & Cardboard Boxes’ there, which garnered a nomination for Vocal Duo of the Year at the 2014 Texas Music Awards. Today, they happily call the road home after shedding most of their possessions in 2014 to take on nomadic life. Living full-time in a van and travel trailer with their dogs, they are exploring the country, creating, and uncovering attentive audiences with which to share the conversation of their music.
Ordinary Elephant captivates listeners with their well-honed combination of insightful writing, effortless harmonies and intertwined clawhammer banjo and guitar. The collaboration of husband and wife, their connection, and their influences (such as Gillian Welch, Guy Clark, Anais Mitchell) all meet on stage. “As genuine as it gets” says Lloyd Maines.
Before being named Artist of the Year at the 2018 International Folk Music Awards, this nomadic duo was both a Kerrville New Folk Finalist and Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist in 2017, and their release ‘Before I Go’ was No. 7 on the Folk DJ Chart for the year.
We hare happy to welcome them back to Sacred Grounds and we're sure they will become one of your favorite duos that appear yearly at Sacred Grounds.