The Lighthouse and The Whaler

The Lighthouse and the Whaler took direct inspiration for its name — as well as the guiding principle for its approach to making music — from the chapter in Moby-Dick in which the lighthouse is a symbol for doing what one should be doing, a signifier of fate. The band...

By Tom Murphy

May 27, 2010

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The Lighthouse and the Whaler took direct inspiration for its name — as well as the guiding principle for its approach to making music — from the chapter in Moby-Dick in which the lighthouse is a symbol for doing what one should be doing, a signifier of fate. The band might be easily lumped in with Americana because of its penchant for folky harmonies and delicate melodic textures, but its core sound is more akin to the work of artists like Harry Nilsson and Fairport Convention. With a lyrical proclivity for humanity's struggle with the meaning of life and what it means to live with intention, Lighthouse creates music to accompany such high-minded ideas with expansive yet catchy dynamics suggestive of wider horizons. This is lonely music for seekers and dreamers.

Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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