Elliott Brood

Elliott Brood
Elliott BROOD at The Broadway Theatre Saskatoon 2012
Background information
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Alternative country, folk, bluegrass
Years active	2002 (2002)–present
Labels	Weewerk Six Shooter Paper Bag Records
Website	elliottbrood.com
Members	Mark Sasso Casey Laforet Stephen Pitkin

Elliott Brood (often stylized as Elliott BROOD) is a Canadian three-piece, alternative country band formed in 2002 in Toronto, consisting of Mark Sasso on lead vocals, guitar, banjo, ukulele, harmonica, and kazoo, Casey Laforet on guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals, bass pedals, keys, and ukulele, and Stephen Pitkin on percussion, sampler, and backing vocals. The band's style has been categorized as "death country", "frontier rock", or "revival music".

Members Mark Sasso and Casey Laforet grew up together in Windsor, and began playing as a band after moving to Toronto following high school. They played their first show in 2002 with two other musicians at Toronto club Holy Joes.

Although the two other musicians dropped out of the band's lineup after only a few shows, Sasso and Laforet continued as a duo, hooking up with producer Stephen Pitkin to record their first EP, Tin Type. Tin Type was recorded over two days in Mark Sasso's living room. The band called the recording space "The Orange Room" because it was painted orange.

The EP was released in January 2004 by weewerk Records, and came packaged in a brown paper bag containing a handmade photobook done in the style of the American Old West.

Pitkin recorded and co-produced Tin Type, but did not officially become a band member until the band released its first LP, Ambassador, on Six Shooter Records in 2005.

Much of Ambassador was recorded by Joe Dunphy in a former abattoir in the Toronto Public Stock Yards, which had been converted to a recording studio called "Monumental Sound". The album was named for the Ambassador Bridge which connects Windsor with Detroit.

The band released its second full-length album, Mountain Meadows, in 2008. Mountain Meadows was coproduced with John Critchley at Green Door Studio in Toronto, where the album was also mixed. In keeping with the band's fondness for incorporating unique room tones within the recording, a number of locations across Canada were selected, including Healey Lake Lodge in MacTier, Wayne Town Hall in Wayne, Mount Robson Lodge in Valemount, and Halla Music in Toronto, as well as Casey Laforet's kitchen and Mark's garage. The album was shortlisted for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize.