Photo: The Lumineers | By Mikael Wood, LA Times || There’s a version of the Lumineers story that ends about a decade ago, in the wake of the two-piece folk-rock band’s struggle to duplicate the pop success of its debut single. The platonic ideal of the Obama-era stomp-clap sound also purveyed by Mumford & Sons and Of Monsters and Men, 2012’s Grammy-nominated “Ho Hey” made improbable stars of singer-guitarist Wesley Schultz and drummer Jeremiah Fraites, who’d come up playing house shows and open mics then suddenly found themselves on Top 40 radio amid the likes of Maroon 5 and Flo Rida.
But if the Denver-based Lumineers have never returned to the upper reaches of the Hot 100, they’ve arguably achieved something better, quietly becoming one of rock’s top live acts while exerting a crucial influence on the next generation of acoustic singer-songwriters. In 2023, Zach Bryan recruited the duo for “Spotless,” a track from his chart-topping self-titled album; last year, Noah Kahan brought Schultz and Fraites onstage during a gig at Boston’s Fenway Park. Then there’s Shaboozey, who’s said the Lumineers helped inspire his smash “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
“Zach has a tattoo of the ‘Cleopatra’ logo on his arm,” Fraites said recently, referring to the band’s 2016 LP. “And Noah, we were emailing once and he said, ‘There’d be no Noah without the Lumineers.’ It’s kind of hard to wrap my head around.”
Last month, Schultz, 42, and Fraites, 39, released their fifth album, “Automatic,” which they’ll support on the road this year with dates including stadium shows at Fenway and New York’s Citi Field and a two-night stint at Inglewood’s Kia Forum in August. Schultz spoke about it the other day in a conversation at the Sunset Marquis, part of a lengthy promotional trek he said was keeping him away from his wife and two young children longer than he’d been away in a while.
“My son Lenny’s school had a music day where whoever wants to play can go up and play,” he said, dressed in jeans and a weathered Talking Heads T-shirt. “I’m just going to be there with him, and then spontaneously he’s like, ‘I want to play ‘Ophelia,’ Dad — you come play with me.’ He whispered the whole song, and I sang it over him.”
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Go here to read the full article and the interview:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/how-the-lumineers-outlived-stomp-clap-s-biggest-hit/
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2025-03-07/lumineers-automatic-wesley-schultz-ho-hey-zach-bryan-noah-kahan
Photo: The Lumineers – Wesley Schultz & Jeremiah Fraites
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