Tobias the Owl
Gig Seeker Pro

Tobias the Owl

Seattle, Washington, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | INDIE

Seattle, Washington, United States | INDIE
Established on Jan, 2014
Band Americana Acoustic

Calendar

Music

Press


"Flying Shoes"

“Low Life”could just as easily have been an old Simon & Garfunkle song brought up to date; it has that certified quality feel about it. - Flying Shoes


"Seattle Indie Emerges at Seattle Sound Music Awards"

Tobias the Owl named "Best Songwriter" in the 2014 Seattle Sound Music Awards. - Seattle Stranger


"Toronto Independent Music Awards"

Tobias the Owl is named "Best Singer-Songwriter" in the Toronto Independent Music Awards. - northernlife.ca


"CD Review: Tobias The Owl – Painting Zeroes by Your Name"

The band Tobias The Owl, got its name from a line in a Pavel Solivar poem, about a one-eyed owl who visits the home of a lonely musician. Hungry and unable to hunt, the owl begins to visit regularly for meals and keeps the musician company while he plays. The poem describes a moment when the musician decides to name the owl, stating: “Oh, Tobias, you see through the blindness, and in the cold of the darkness every eye that shines is a universe unto itself”.

Toronto native turned Seattleite Elijah Dhawan, spent years traveling throughout the Southwest and West Coast, absorbing influences of folk, bluegrass, indie rock and definitely the acoustic sound of the Pacific Northwest. Those travels helped forge a unique sound that has led to accolades such as Best Songwriter in the 2014 Seattle Sound Music Awards and Best Singer/Songwriter in the 2014 Toronto Independent Music Awards.

‘Painting Zeros By Your Name’ is an acoustic, indie-folk 6 track EP whose beautiful ballads mend the pain and heartache of one’s soul and gives the listener a sacred realization of what is really important in life. Released by London Tone Music with mixing and mastering by Geoff Ott, who has worked with a list of artists a mile long and the list has names like Melissa Etheridge, Brandi Carlile, Queens of the Stone Age, Alice in Chains, 3 Doors Down, Nickelback and Candlebox. The album was recorded at the legendary London Bridge Studio.

The term acoustic folk sometimes conjures up the thought of a singular person, one guitar and that’s about it. In this situation there are far more than one person and the instrument list far exceeds one guitar. Tobias The Owl used a full range of instruments to construct this fantastic album including the violin, cello, mandolin, drums, shaker and some great work on the piano, putting out a symphony of both sound and feelings that allow for subtle changes between the songs while playing a cat and mouse game of genre-bending.

The second song on this release, “Low Life” which features Eric Haber, has a slightly country sound, while track 5 “And I Swayed” has the attitude and ambiance of the Led Zeppelin acoustic sound of the ‘70’s and features Phil Hirschi and Megan Larson. There is some very soft backup on this album, most notably on track 3 “Mouse” which has beautiful harmony sung by Lauren Oglesby reinforcing the soul of the song.

‘Painting Zeros by Your Name’ succeeds because it doesn’t attempt to bury the crowd in noise, it cradles the heart, soul and mind of the listener provoking a very relaxing reaction.

Get your copy of ‘Painting Zeros by Your Name’ at Bandcamp HERE

Like Tobias The Owl on Facebook HERE - Northwest Music Scene


Discography

Tobias the Owl's debut album is currently being produced by Marvin Etzioni and Scott Seiver, and will be released soon.

Photos

Bio

Tobias the Owl started as a musical engine of singer-songwriter, Spooner Mason. As an acoustic group based in the Pacific Northwest, TTO also features multi-instrumentalist, percussionist/drummer Scott Seiver (Tenacious D, Flight of the Conchords, Amiee Mann). 

Some of the Tobias the Owl songs have been covered by Jonah Tolchin and Deer Tick. The forthcoming TTO album is being produced by Scott and the legendary, Marvin Etzioni (Counting Crows, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Lucinda Williams). Since the inception of the project, Tobias the Owl has been named "Best Singer-Songwriter" in the Toronto Independent Music Awards, and "Best Songwriter" in the Seattle Sound Music Awards.


Band Members