# Digging The Archives, 2009 – Durham’s Bombadil and Chicago’s Shadows On A River

- Link: https://indierockcafe.com/2016/07/indie-songs-durhams-bombadil-and-chicagos-shadows-on-a-river/
- Published: 2016-07-12T07:34:00-04:00
- Author: Max Hammer

Digging The Archives – Sounds of [YEAR] is a new series in which we’ll dig back 
into our published and unpublished posts to highlight songs and artists that broke
through from 2007 to 2015.

_Original file date: June 2, 2009_

Durham, North Carolina indie folk pop band Bombadil first hit our radar last year
with their stunning full-length debut A Buzz, A Buzz – making it one of our favorite
indie albums of 2008.

Bombadil’s latest release, Tarpits and Canyonlands, is an impressive follow-up, 
full of lo-fi piano, violin, clanking sticks, acoustic guitars, choruses and shatters,
as on the lead single, “Honeymoon.”

 1. [Honeymoon](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Bombadil-Tarpits-And-Canyonlands-Honeymoon_EeoBJcYpxP4_youtube.mp3)

The organically recorded and released, “Kuala Lumpur,” is a hand-clapping, acoustic
guitar, chorus-driven celebratory song about Malaysia and its famous capital, with
very much a Polynesian feel.

 1. [Kuala Lumpur](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Bombadil-Tarpits-And-Canyonlands-Kuala-Lumpur_oA-b49yRzxE_youtube.mp3)

Formed March 2005 when guitarist Bryan Rahija and bassist Daniel Michalak were studying
abroad in Bolivia. Drummer James Phillips joined Bombadil in 2007. The band described
their latest album as “a joyful document that celebrates all the flaws and sorrows
of the human condition while capturing the whimsy, spirit, and charm that has enabled
the band to win over fan after fan on a relentless four-year tour.”

Bombadil has open for bands like The Avett Brothers and Langhorne Slim and performed
at Bonnaroo in addition to being featured in Paste Magazine, The Washington Post
and New York Magazine.

More About Bombadil

_Biggest musical influences_: Velvet Underground, Manu Chao, The Kinks, Elliott 
Smith and Ben Folds.

_Favorite albums_: Led Zeppelin – III; James Brown – Live at the Apollo; Architecture
in Helsinki – In Case We Die

Related Post:  New and Upcoming Indie Songs and Album Releases

_Favorite songs ever_: “Bring it On Home to Me” – Sam Cooke

Official website: [www.bombadilmusic.com](https://indierockcafe.com/2016/07/indie-songs-durhams-bombadil-and-chicagos-shadows-on-a-river/ bombadilmusic.com)

[[Chicago indie band Shadows On A River originally played together as college students
at Milkin University in Decatur as The Infinity Room, and once opened for Pedro 
The Lion.

Following graduation, the band split up but recently regrouped to record their new
debut self-titled album featuring strange and earnest art rock.

 1. [In The Water](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/In-The-Water-by-Shadows-on-a-River_kiKa8R4WXbY_youtube.mp3)

Lead singer/songwriter and guitarist David Henson lists “self doubt” as his main
musical influence and compares the band’s sound to Elliott Smith, Radiohead and 
Mt Eerie.

Henson’s favorite song is “Unravel” by Bjork and his favorite albums are The Glow
Part 2 by the Microphones and Kid A by Radiohead.

**Via Bandcamp**: [“Hurricanes”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/hurricanes)–
Shadows On A River from s/t debut (2009)