Fronted by brothers Ben Mish, a piano phenom with a blue-eyed soul voice and a raucous attitude, and Will Mish, a guitar wizard who has earned critical nods for his unfathomable talent and innate sense of melody and blues, and flanked by Irish-born multi-talented rhythm guitarist Ronan O'Mahony, a childhood friend and co-songwriter, and the inimitable stick-man Andrew Cloutier on drums, Left Hand Smoke brews up a blend of neo-soul and rock that is steeped in tradition, yet entirely original and fresh.
In 1999, Ben Mish and Ronan O'Mahony were on top of the world. Schoolmates since 2nd grade, Mish and O'Mahony were always performing in one way or another. In 1998, the need to bring their skills to a greater audience reached critical mass, and within 18 months of forming their first band, they had a hit song on the radio, songs on TV, and the kind of following that makes the industry sit up and take notice. But where did it all begin?
Living in Manhattan in 1997, Mish was soaking up the urban experience, listening to new sounds, living out new experiences, each one ending up as musings on the pages of one of the many notebooks he filled day in and day out. Eager to get his words out to the masses, Mish came back to Seattle to join up once again with collaborator and childhood friend O'Mahony. Both of them attending the University of Washington, they quickly set to work crafting the songs that would become their critically acclaimed debut release. Soon joined by Ben's brother Will on lead guitar, the band released their first album in 1999.
Left Hand Smoke's self-titled debut took the West Coast by surprise, earning rave reviews in publications like LA's Radio & Record, and newspapers around the coast. Immediately, things began to happen for the band. Within months of the album's release, four songs off Left Hand Smoke were licensed for network television, one of them, Blues Eyes Shining, eventually ending up on the hit show ER. The song "Step Outside" (featuring Death Cab for Cutie's Jason McGerr on drums) garnered major airplay from Seattles AAA format KMTT 103.7 FM The Mountain, vaulting the band from club act to headliner in major performance venues. The album went on to receive many gold stars: album of the year in West Coast Performer Magazine, Top 10 in the Amazon.com rock charts, and the single Step Outside was a top 10 request for 103.7 FM (a live version of the song was featured on the stations popular On the Mountain 6 compilation alongside Tom Waits, Counting Crows, David Gray, and others). Capitalizing on this momentum, the band hit the road, building a loyal following with its now-renowned live show.
As the fanbase grew, the band continued to absorb and explore new music. In addition to the sounds of the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and Van Morrison that came through on their rst release, the band updated the sound with an invigorating slice of James Brown and Motown soul. With the addition of the talented and Andrew Cloutier stepping in on the drums, the band released So Many Faces and Nonsense Parade in a musical journey that took them all across the West Coast. Since the release of their third record in 2003, LHS has continued to collect accolades: they headlined the Backyard Stage at Seattles famous Bumbershoot Festival in September 2004; opened for Maroon 5 in arenas during their Northwest leg of the national John Mayer/Maroon 5 tour; Ben Mish opened for Gavin DeGraw during his 2005 tour; the band played with Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, and Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam during a benefit show in Seattle in May 2004; on a repeat bill the following year, Mike McCready joined LHS on stage for a cover of Sympathy for the Devil bythe Rolling Stones; the LHS song Down the Road was licensed by Pangolin Pictures for use on the Discovery Channel; and most recently, the band was voted Seattles Best Pop/Rock Band of 2005 by readers of the Seattle Weekly.
In 2006, Left Hand Smoke has finally brought all of this experience together and put out a startling record that was largely culled from the demos of songs that Ben Mish had written since his days in New York and the inception of the band. Working with Producer/Engineer Stevie Adamek (The Allies, The Believers), the band embraced a new direction, pushing themselves to explore new musical territory. The resulting album, At the Hotel, combines catchy hooks and soulful melodies with the crushing rock and roll for which LHS has become known. Mastered by Mark Guenther (The Refreshments), At the Hotel is a fresh sound from a band that has shown their ability to expand in new directions while remaining true to their musical roots.
