History
A collaboration between Victor Rasgaitis (guitar, vocals) and Talor Smith (cello, vocals), the group formed at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Regularly featuring a rotating cast of guest musicians adding instruments ranging from additional cellos to viola, violin, trumpet, banjo, mandolin, bass, vocals, percussion and accordion to compliment layered, introspective songwriting and passionate, high-energy performances.
The band name's, taken from the allegedly haunted local Victorian landmark that was formerly the Athens Asylum, speaks to the group's fascination with folklore and classical influences as well as their deep rooted connection to the city of Athens.
In the winter of 2010, The Ridges took to the mostly abandoned Athens Lunatic Asylum that bears their same name to record a 5-track, self-titled, "studio" release among the ancient halls, deteriorating wards and eerie operating rooms. The 5-track short-play album coping with themes of haunted pasts, death, love and awakenings, and backgrounded by the unique natural acoustics and legends of the building, was released on May 21, 2011, as the band's first formal presentation.
On October 21, 2011, The Ridges recorded a live session for the popular music discovery website Daytrotter. The five song live session was released on December 29, 2011.
On April 1, 2012, The Ridges recorded a live 20-voices indie choir version of “The Insomniac’s Song” with members of The Happy Maladies, Indigo Wild, Young Heirlooms, and Molly Sullivan. "The Insomniac's Song (Live with The Sleepless Singers)" was released excluively for Record Store Day 2012 (April 21, 2012) through a digital download attached to 50 hand screen printed posters by M. Walton Keys, distributed at 5 select Ohio independent record stores: Haffa's Records (Athens), Shake It Records andEverybody's Records (Cincinnati), Magnolia Thunderpussy (Columbus), and My Mind's eye (Cleveland).
On June 1, 2012, The Ridges recorded a Threadless Warehouse Session at Chicago's iconic Threadless T-Shirts Warehouse.
On June 2, 2012, The Ridges recorded a live session for another popular music discovery website, Audiotree Live. The 8-song live session and interview was released on June 6, 2012.
In the spring of 2013, The Ridges toured the Midwest and South with The Seedy Seeds on their way to the South by Southwest music festival, where they played seven showcases over five days at the festival. The tour and adjoining festival dates were documented with daily photos through a takeover of the popular iPhone photography app Hipstamatic's Twitter feed.
The Ridges have notably performed with Good Old War, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Ben Sollee, Horse Feathers, Ha Ha Tonka, These United States, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, Bad Veins, The Seedy Seeds, Miracles of Modern Science, The Bright Light Social Hour, The Winter Sounds, R. Ring, Those Darlins, Timbre, Robert Francis, Lucius, Revolver, Plume Giant, Kellen & Me, Indigo Wild, and The Happy Maladies. In addition to SXSW, The Ridges have also performed "Critic's Pick" showcases at Cincinnati's MidPoint Music Festival and the MidPoint Indie Summer Series as well as at The Clifton Heights Music Festival.
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