Elliott BROOD

Elliott BROOD is a Toronto-based Canadian alternative country group active since 2002. The trio consists of Mark Sasso, Casey Laforet and Stephen Pitkin. Their music is described by the band as “death country”, and their sound is also associated with alternative country, bluegrass and folk.

Formation and members

Mark Sasso and Casey Laforet grow up together in Windsor and begin playing as a band after moving to Toronto after high school. The group plays its first show in 2002 at Toronto club Holy Joes with two other musicians. The name used for that first performance is disputed by Sasso and Laforet in the press, with Token Hillbillies and Mark Sasso and the Sassettes both mentioned.

After only a few shows, the two other musicians leave and Sasso and Laforet continue as a duo. Stephen Pitkin then works with them as a producer before becoming an official member when the band releases its first album. Sasso performs lead vocals, guitar, banjo, ukelele and harmonica; Laforet plays guitar, backing vocals, bass pedals, keys and ukelele; Pitkin plays percussion, sampler and backing vocals.

Recordings and releases

The band’s first EP, Tin Type, is recorded over two days in Mark Sasso’s living room, a room the band calls The Orange Room because it is painted orange. It is released in January 2004 by weewerk Records and comes packaged in a brown paper bag with a handmade photobook styled after the American Old West. Pitkin records and co-produces the EP.

The first full-length album, Ambassador, appears on Six Shooter Records in 2005. It is recorded in a former abattoir in the Toronto Public Stock Yards, which is converted into a studio called Monumental Sound by Joe Dunphy. The title refers to the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor and Detroit.

The second full-length album, Mountain Meadows, is released in 2008. It is co-produced with John Critchley at Green Door studio in Toronto, where it is also mixed. The band records material for the album in several locations across Canada, including Healey Lake Lodge in Mactier, Ontario; Wayne Town Hall in Wayne, Alberta; Mt. Robson Lodge in Valemount, British Columbia; Halla Music in Toronto; Green Door Studio; and Casey’s kitchen in Toronto.

Performance style

Until June 2008, Pitkin contributes to Elliott BROOD using a Samsonite “Silhouette” suitcase instead of a conventional bass drum. After breaking several cases during performances, he stops using it. One damaged case from a show at Montreal venue Le Divan Orange, on a bill with United Steelworkers of Montreal, later becomes an art installation on the wall of the Moho Tavern in Peterborough.