American Elm, Chris Bousquet

American Elm is the nome de guerre of Chris Bousquet, a singer-songwriter from Connecticut. He is the former leader of the internationally acclaimed High Lonesome Plains. He has performed with such luminaries as Roger McGuinn (The Byrds), Mercury Rev, Howe Gelb, Miracle Legion, John Sebastian, Asleep at the Wheel, Rhett Miller, Mark Mulcahy, The Turtles, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, J. Geils, and Susan Cowsill.  The High Lonesome Plains rose to critical acclaim between 1999 and 2006, receiving airplay and garnering critical acclaim on four continents, Americana-UK called their 2002 EP Songs For Young Lovers, “one of the year’s best.” Rolling Stone writer and Australian DJ Stuart Coupe called it "the best thang to arrive in the mail for ages." The lead track on the EP, "Brass Ring" was featured in the independent film The Box, the television show Witchblade and was included on 36,000 copies of a Magnet Magazine New Music Sampler. In 2006 The High Lonesome Plains released a full-length album entitled “The River and the Sea” which received glowing praise both domestically and abroad (including Belgium, The Netherlands, UK, Australia and Spain). Independisc.com selected “The River and the Sea” as their record of the year. From 2004 to 2007 Chris toured the Northeast as part of the “Times Three Tour” with songwriters Frank Critelli and Mr. Ray Neal (Miracle Legion, Vic Chesnutt). Between 2008 and 2015, American Elm released three studio E.P.s: “Ulmus Americana” ( 2008), “alonesomenoise” (2014), and “Into the Light Within” (2015), and a single "Empty Island Houses" (2014).

2018 was a productive year in which Bousquet released a live E.P. "The Ivory Sessions," and the "A Long Road to Be Free" single, a collaboration with musician and producer Eric Lichter (Kerri Powers, Earl Slick Mercury Rev), recorded at Dirt Floor Studios in Connecticut. 2018 also marked the public debut of "The Year of the Horse: A Folk-Rock Song Cycle" written by Bousquet and performed live in New Haven by some of the regions most talented, and beloved musicians. The performance of “The Year of the Horse” was recorded and released as a live concert film. In 2020, as American Drone, he released “Behold the Broken World” a six song E.P recorded entirely on stick dulcimer. 2021 brought “Morning Music,” a collection of eight songs recorded live at home. In 2021, the American Elm song, “A Long Road to Be Free” was included in the Essential Western New England Songbook, an 150 song anthology of many of the best songs ever written and recorded by artists who have lived in Western New England and whose careers have a significant connection to the area. The songbook includes many recognizable names including, Taj Mahal, Gene Pitney, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Dar Williams, and the Pixies. Bousquet’s song “Gloria” is featured in, and serves as the theme song for the CPTV/PBS documentary “Oyster Heaven,” and the feature film “The Oystering Life,” both of which debuted in 2022.Jeremy Wallace is a troubadour with timeless appeal. With his distinct rasp, Wallace’s interpretation of folk, blues and country traditions reveal a musician who has grown confident in his style over the course of almost three decades. The characters that inhabit his songs are down on their luck, hopelessly romantic, bruised and busted. Yet there is a grudging optimism to his woeful tales of boozy heartbreak. Revered as a journeyman guitarist, Wallace has lately added piano to his repertoire and reinterpreted many of his best known songs for the keys. They’ve lost none of their dark humor in the transition, and old and new fans alike will be enchanted by Wallace’s ever evolving sound.