The Builders and the Butchers

The Builders and The Butchers
The Builders and the Butchers playing live 2014 in Munich.
Background information
Origin	Portland, Oregon, United States
Genres	Folk Rock, Indie Folk, Alt-country, gothic country, Blues, Americana
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Bladen County Records, Gigantic Music, Badman Recording Co., Song, by Toad Records
Website	TheBuildersAndTheButchers.com
Members	Justin Baier Willy Kunkle Ray Rude Ryan Sollee Harvey Tumbleson
Past members	Alexander Ellis Brandon Hafer Adrienne Hatkin Paul Seely

The Builders and The Butchers are a Folk Rock band based in Portland, Oregon, United States, fronted by singer/guitar player Ryan Sollee. The other members of the band are Willy Kunkle (bass guitar, vocals, percussion), Justin Baier (drums, backup vocals, percussion), Ray Rude (drums, piano, clarinet, backup vocals, percussion), and Harvey Tumbleson (mandolin, banjo, guitar, vocals, percussion). The band's debut, self-titled album was released in 2007 by Bladen County Records. To date, the band has 4 full-length albums, 1 live album and 2 EP splits.

The Builders and The Butchers formed on October 31, 2005. They came together because "a lot of bands were all breaking up around the same time, and we were looking to get into something new--so it just worked out." Each member is originally from Anchorage, Alaska and migrated separately to Portland, Oregon to start a career in music. Initially they called themselves "The Funeral Band", performing in the streets and outside of music venues. The name eventually changed to The Builders and The Butchers, "for no other reason than it was the only name all five members liked." The first year of acoustic performances were mostly street shows until opening for the experimental band Man Man in 2006. “We very slowly started plugging [our instruments] in.” Sollee says, but the group had to figure out how to utilize its two percussionists on stage. They found that by splitting one drum kit between Seely and Rude, with one handling the kick drum and another playing the snare, they developed what the group calls a “deconstructed” drumming style. The band's song-writing process involves Sollee writing the lyrics out and presenting it to the other members, who then start playing and putting the music around these lyrics.