Monsters of Folk Artistfacts

2004, 2007-2010
Jim JamesVocals, various instruments2004-
Conor OberstVocals, various instruments2004-
M. WardVocals, various instruments2004-
Mike MogisProducer, various instruments2004-
Will JohnsonTouring drummer2009-
Matthew HollingsIllustrator2009
Monsters Of Folk was a folk music supergroup comprised of Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and M. Ward of She & Him. They first got together in 2004 when they toured under the banner "an evening of solo and collaborative performances by M. Ward, Jim James and Bright Eyes," then went dormant until 2007, when they started working on an album together. That album, titled Monsters Of Folk, was released in 2009. They toured to support it, but aside from some sessions for a planned second album in 2012, that was all there was from the group.
They mix and match vocals and instruments on their songs with an even distribution. Jim James, Conor Oberst and M. Ward are all talented singers with very different voices, so they had lots of vocal diversity. They shared writing credits evenly.
Mike Mogis, the non-vocalist in the group, was their producer. He also produced for Bright Eyes.
Five songs from their 2012 sessions were finally released in 2024 on a deluxe reissue of their 2009 album.
The roots of Monsters Of Folk were planted at the Field Day Festival on June 7, 2003, when Bright Eyes and My Morning Jacket both performed in the pouring rain at Giants Stadium. They bonded backstage, and later, Jim James brought M. Ward into the fold so they could all tour together.
The band name is a play on Monsters Of Rock, a high-octane festival where many heavy metal heavyweights have performed. They came up with the name during their 2004 when their road crew got in the habit of announcing them with echo-drenched bombast as a kind of joke.
They made a point to play all the instruments themselves, but they did use a sample on their song "Dear God (sincerely M.O.F)," pulling the drums from a 1970 song by Trevor Dandy called "Is There Any Love."

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