American Elm is Chris Bousquet, a singer-songwriter from Connecticut. He is the former leader of the internationally acclaimed High Lonesome Plains, and as well as the widely regarded Alligator Farmhouse. He has performed with such luminaries as Roger McGuinn (The Byrds), Mercury Rev, Miracle Legion, John Sebastian, Asleep at the Wheel, The Nields, Mark Mulcahy, The Turtles, Nathaniel Rateliff, Dry the River, 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...
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American Elm is Chris Bousquet, a singer-songwriter from Connecticut. He is the former leader of the internationally acclaimed High Lonesome Plains, and as well as the widely regarded Alligator Farmhouse. He has performed with such luminaries as Roger McGuinn (The Byrds), Mercury Rev, Miracle Legion, John Sebastian, Asleep at the Wheel, The Nields, Mark Mulcahy, The Turtles, Nathaniel Rateliff, Dry the River, 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).
As American Elm, he has released several E.P.s (“Ulmus Americana” in 2008, “alonesomenoise” in 2014”) and a single “Empty Island Houses (2014). American Elm’s latest is an EP called “Into the Light Within,” released in July of 2015.
Press quotes:
“There is a deep embedded ache in Bousquet’s voice. You can feel it down in the trenches of his soul and through the crack in his voice.” – Redline Roots
“On Into The Light Within Bousquet really separates himself as a songwriter from a very crowded field of excellent songwriters taking up camp in his home state. While he’s not afraid to crank up the electric guitar to prove a song’s point, it’s his more introspective moments, such as on “Gloria” that he really knocks it out of the park.” – Chip McCabe, Lonesome Noise
"Memorable melodies and intoxicating hooks that are instantly appealing . . . well worth tracking down." - Del Day, Americana-UK
"Songs that grab at the throat, heart, and soul." - Rootstime Belgium
"Bousquet's melodies pour out with folksy ease, his memorable choruses invite singing along, and his lyrics are smart without being show-offy" - Brian LaRue, The New Haven Advocate
