The Lonesome Brothers formed in 1985, and have been alt-country/Americana favorites since before the terms Alt-country and Americana were coined. The Lonesome Brothers are fronted by Ray Mason on bass and Jim Armenti on guitar and backed by former Blood Oranges drummer Keith Levreault. Ray and Jim share songwriting and vocal duties and have perfected a warm, comfortable and often humorous style that weaves personal insights, experiences and homespun characters and stories into the fabric of their music. These accomplished musicians share a love of a wide array of music and have played with an incredibly varied roster of players who run the gamut from punk rock and avant-jazz to traditional Yiddish and Klezmer music.
Check Engine is the Lonesome Brothers’ eighth full-length album and it joins the long list of solo records, singles and side projects that make up their well-respected musical catalog. The Lonesome Brothers’ songwriting, according to No Depression magazine, possesses “elements of Bob Dylan and Neil Young” and employs “an easygoing air, but a sneakily pointed wit.” Amplifier magazine adds that the Brothers’ songs portray their world so effectively that you can actually “smell the barn and feel the old pick-up truck underneath you.”
Jim and Ray played in the Yankee Rhythm Band together from 1981, and formed the Lonesome Brothers in 1985. Ray started his first band, the Gladiators, in Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1966. In the early 80s he started the Ray Mason Band, which continues to this day. Ray and Jim have played on recordings by Cheri Knight, Ware River Club, J Mascis, Lloyd Cole, Cliff Eberhardt, Reed Foehl, Steve Westfield, Wolf Krakowski and many others. The Lonesome Brothers appeared on Prairie Home Companion and at the 2007 Newport Folk Festival, and have opened shows for Carlene Carter, NRBQ, Steve Forbert, Billy Jo Shaver, Freedy Johnston, Laura Cantrell, Cry Cry Cry, Junior Brown, the Bottle Rockets, the Flatlanders and many others.
