The Elms
Seymour, Indiana10 reviews across 3 releases
The Elms was an Indiana Christian rock band formed in Seymour in the mid-1990s as Just Visiting by brothers Owen and Chris Thomas. After independent records and sustained touring, the group adopted its new name around 1999 and signed with Sparrow Records. Owen Thomas, the principal songwriter, gave the band direct Christian lyrics and an accessible pop sensibility. The five-song The Elms paired jangling guitars with piano-led arrangements, occasional horns and tight percussion. Big Surprise expanded that approach into bright, highly melodic power pop shaped by the Beatles and other classic pop groups, though reviewers differed over whether its influences overwhelmed its personality. By Truth, Soul and Rock and Roll, the guitars were more prominent and the band reached toward classic rock, even as some songs remained close to the earlier pop formula.
Keith Miller left in 2003 to return to college, and Nathan Bennett became the bassist later that year. The Elms continued touring and recording beyond the Sparrow period, signing with Universal South for The Chess Hotel in 2006 before issuing The Great American Midrange through their own TRUST Incorporated label in 2009. The band announced in June 2010 that it would disband after ten years together, without citing a dispute among its members. Its final concert took place in Indianapolis on July 30, 2010. Owen Thomas later described the decision as a sense that the band's course had run out. The Elms reunited for benefit concerts in Indianapolis in July 2015.
3 releases reviewed
The Elms
Truth, Soul and Rock and Roll