Kitchen Dwellers

In Dante’s Inferno, the author grapples with sin, its various manifestations, and its consequences. This time ultimately traces a trajectory of self-realization, acceptance, and accountability. Kitchen Dwellers embark on a similar odyssey over the course of their fourth full-length offering, Seven Devils. The Montana quartet—Shawn Swain [Mandolin], Torrin Daniels [Banjo], Joe Funk [Upright Bass], and Max Davies [Acoustic Guitar]—thread together an immersive and inimitable conceptual arc inspired by
Dante’s Inferno and set to a soundtrack of folk-infused bluegrass spiked with psychedelic vision and rock energy.

Continuing their own journey as brothers, they deliver their most ambitious and anthemic body of work yet.

“We didn’t go into the studio with the intent of making a concept album,” recalls Torrin. “I was driving around listening to everything, and I noticed these parallels. To dive deeper, we’re discussing topics like mental health, the human condition, and what we go through on the road. In life and music, everything is recurring and universal. I was reading Dante at the time, and it naturally fit.”

It proved to be a logical next step as well… Thus far, Kitchen Dwellers have engaged and enraptured listeners with albums such as Ghost In The Bottle [2017], Muir Maid [2019], Live from the Wilma [2021], and Wise River [2022]. Of the latter, Holler. praised how “Kitchen Dwellers have preserved their sense of youthful experimentation,” and Relix proclaimed, “The songs on the new record build on this range, while also reflecting on the group’s Bozeman, Montana home.” Between tallying millions of streams, the band ignited hallowed venues such as Red Rocks Amphitheatre and graced the bills of Telluride Bluegrass, Northwest String Summit, WinterWonderGrass, and beyond.

In order to bring Seven Devils to life, the musicians opted to work with producer Glenn Brown. It would not only mark their first time collaborating with the producer, but it also would be the first time they decamped to Michigan in order to record.

Fittingly, “Seven Devils (Limbo)” opens the album and serves as the first single. Nimbly picked banjo and upbeat acoustic guitar set the pace as the regretful chorus bemoans, “Am I supposed to hop the next train? Or stand here drowning in the Oregon rain?” A guitar-driven bridge dips in and out of effects-laden echoes and stark strumming. Coming full circle, a ten-minute version of “Seven Devils” later bookends the record with an epic finale.

In the end, Kitchen Dwellers may just leave you changed with Seven Devils.

“The record is a trip inward within the self,” Torrin concludes. “It tackles a lot of things in the world people try not to think about. The reality is we’re only truly happy when happiness comes from within. That’s the message.”