Givers

Early years and formation (2005-09)

Givers was formed in 2008 in Lafayette, Louisiana by Tiffany Lamson, Taylor Guarisco, Kirby Campbell, Josh LeBlanc, William Henderson, and Nick Stephan. The band knew one another from high school in Lafayette, where "there's two or three clubs that everybody plays at and supports each other." Guarisco had toured with a zydeco band, while the other future members dabbled in Cajun and jazz music. Lamson grew up with gospel music as her parents were pastors, and she sang in their church band. The band's earliest origins date to when Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. Lamson had just started her freshman year at the University of New Orleans. Guarisco and Lamson were rooming together when the storm hit, leaving them with roughly 15 feet of water in their apartment. With school on hold and nowhere to live, the duo returned home and began making music together and performing at open mic nights. While Lafayette was "suitably anonymous" before the disaster, nearly 30,000 people moved to the city following the tragedy, resulting an "explosion in culture."

Givers came together in 2008, when Lamson and Guarisco recruited Kirby Campbell, Will Henderson and Josh LeBlanc for a two-hour slot at a Lafayette pub. Lamson and Guarisco had never sung prior to joining the band, and Josh LeBlanc was a jazz trumpeter before learning the bass. The unnamed band hopped on the last-minute slot after another local band dropped off the bill, and improvised the entire set. They were phoned by the pub and invited back, and they continued to perform improvised sets. "That was how some of those songs were created, that total free-form state where we just played and recorded and then excerpted and rearranged," Guarisco later said. The band scoured their record libraries looking for interesting song titles they could narrow down for a band name; Guarisco picked a Lucky Dragons song called "Givers." The band recorded their debut EP in Campbell's bedroom, and released it online for free in 2009. After the newly christened Givers performed at Baton Rouge's stalwart music hall Spanish Moon, booking agent Aaron Scruggs gave the band what would become one of the "major accidents that became very fruitful occurrences," according to Guarisco. For their Baton Rouge show, Dirty Projectors had a rare opening slot, and Scruggs gave it to Givers, who had been performing only part-time since their 2008 formation. Dirty Projectors were one of Guarisco's favorite bands. Frontman Dave Longstreth subsequently invited the band along as support for an East Coast tour.

In Light (2010-present)

The band recorded their debut album in January 2010 at the "magical, swampy [and] historical" Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana, which had previously hosted acts such as B.B. King, Derek Trucks, Mavis Staples and Dr. John. The group cooped up in guest rooms along the banks of the Vermilion Bayou in Maurice, and spent 20 days recording the album. In contrast to their debut EP, which was recorded in Campbell's bedroom and sporadically recorded with a list of limitations, they viewed Dockside as a virtual utopia in contrast. As they were completely separated from city life — "You can't hear cars, there's no light pollution," said Guarisco — they never found themselves distracted, simply waking up to record until "[we] were dead tired" in the late night. Each song from the band's debut EP was re-recorded and revamped.

Ra Ra Riot also discovered the band and booked the band for its 2010 tour. The band's performance at the 2010 Austin City Limits festival led to a record deal with Glassnote, who had executives in the audience. Label founder Daniel Glass had run a mile from his train to the venue to catch the performance, and was "mesmerized," later explaining "It was a visceral moment for me. I don't fall in love a lot. The only time this happened to me was when I walked into a brasserie in Paris and I met Phoenix." The band signed to Glassnote Records on February 1, 2011. In 2011, Henderson was replaced by Nick Stephan, and the group released their first full-length album In Light on June 7. On June 13, they performed "Up Up Up", the first single off the album, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Their song "Up Up Up" is featured on EA Sports' FIFA 12 and in the US Television Series Glee, Season 3, Episode 15 - "Big Brother" (performed by Kevin McHale and Dianna Agron), broadcast on April 10, 2012, Windows 8 Release Preview advertisement and the newly announced Nokia Lumia 720.

Givers performed at the music festival Coachella in 2012 and Lollapalooza in 2012 as well as the New Orleans Jazz Fest. They also performed with New Orleans' Preservation Hall Jazz Band as part of their 50th Anniversary at Carnegie Hall in January 2012.

Musical style and influences

The sound of Givers has been described as a combination of world music and indie rock. The music of Givers suggest modern exponents of Afro-pop, and their music has been called "island pop".

The group were influenced by Dirty Projectors, as well as the Talking Heads. The group has been compared to Vampire Weekend, Neon Indian and Local Natives. "What negates a good comparison and a bad comparison is not really the artist they mention, it's in the way that their face looks when they say it," said Guarisco.

Band members

Studio albums

Extended plays