With the addition of Scott Borchert on keys in late 2006 and a shift in musical direction toward simpler, tighter and more lyrical songs, Exit Fowler evolved into The Here Now. The name change embodies an aesthetic shift and attempts to capture what John Lennon described as the purpose of rock and roll: to "be here now," and to some extent the idea that, to live in the past or the future is to be dead in the present.
With four parts Indianapolis/one part Chicago, deep roots in Midwestern cities are reflected in their music, which alternates between the open-air-emptiness of alt-country ballads and the jangly rock of the cities that spring up to interrupt those spaces. Rather than overplay and overstate, The Here Now works under the theory that it is a musician's responsibility to his or her craft not to add and add until no space is left unfilled, but to cut and cut until only the core of the song remains.
The Here Now recorded their first EP, Shotgun Dancer, in Chicago in the Summer of 2007. It has recently been released for download and CD purchase on this website.
