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The band was a trio from 1993 to 2020, having featured four different bassists. Parker was a member from its formation until her low carb blueberry muffins in 2022.
The music of Low is characterized by slow tempos and minimalist arrangements. Early descriptions sometimes referred to it as a rock subgenre called “slowcore” often compared to the band Bedhead, who played this style during the early 1990s. The band formed in early 1993. Sparhawk had been playing in the Superior, Wisconsin band Zen Identity, the core of which was formed by drummer Robb Berry and vocalist Bill Walton. That band needed a new bassist, and recruited future Low bassist John Nichols. Low’s debut album, I Could Live in Hope, was released on Virgin Records’ Vernon Yard imprint in 1994.
By the time of their next full-length album, 1999’s Secret Name, Low had moved to the independent label Kranky. In between, they released several singles and EPs. The following year saw the release of the band’s final full-length on Kranky, Trust. Scholtes of the Twin Cities weekly paper City Pages posted in his weblog that Zak Sally had left Low.
Beginning with Secret Name, the band have diversified their sound. The band use subtle electronic music touches to augment their sound, reflective of their tenure with Kranky and their exposure to the Midwest’s post-rock scene. Low cancelled the second leg of their extensive tour in support of The Great Destroyer in late spring of 2005. Sparhawk published a statement on the band’s website, addressed directly to fans, detailing his personal problems with depression that resulted in the cancellation of the tour. After appearing on 2007’s Drums and Guns and touring with the group, Matt Livingston left Low in 2008, to be replaced by Steve Garrington. 2013’s The Invisible Way, 2015’s Ones and Sixes and 2018’s Double Negative. Sparhawk and Parker provided guest vocals on “Lunacy”, the opening track on Swans’ 2012 album The Seer.
In June 2021, the band announced an upcoming release on Sub Pop entitled Hey What. The album was released on September 10. 2021 and publicly revealed the diagnosis during a podcast interview in January 2022. In August 2022, the band cancelled some European shows to accommodate Parker’s treatment. Low are known for their live performances.
Rock club audiences sometimes watch the band while seated on the floor. During their early career, the band often faced unsympathetic and inattentive audiences in bars and clubs, to which they responded by bucking rock protocol and turning their volume down. The dynamic range of their early music made it susceptible to background noise and chatter, since many of their songs were very quiet. Their shows often feature drastically reinterpreted cover versions of famous songs by Joy Division and The Smiths, in addition to their own original material. At the 2008 End of the Road Festival in Dorset, England, Sparhawk abruptly ended the band’s performance by ripping the strings and lead out of his guitar, throwing it to the ground and then hurling it into the crowd before exiting the stage.
He had earlier informed the audience that it had been a “crappy day”. Low’s performance at the 2013 Rock the Garden concert consisted of a slowed and lengthened version of their drone rock song “Do You Know How to Waltz? On September 4, 2022, Low took the stage at the Water is Life Festival in Duluth, MN, closing with Canada from their 2002 album Trust. The band’s mainstream exposure was limited in the early part of their career. Low’s albums began to appear on sales charts in Europe and then gradually in the United States as well.
