Lambchop

Lambchop is an American group from Nashville, Tennessee, active since 1986. It begins under the name Posterchild before adopting the name Lambchop, and it develops around frontman Kurt Wagner.

Style and membership

The group sits within alternative country, country and chamber pop, though it is not easily reduced to a single genre. Its line-up is fluid, and at times it includes as many as 18 musicians. Named members associated with the group include William Tyler, Tony Crow, Scott Chase, Dennis Cronin, Mike Doster, Bill Killebrew, Allen Lowrey, Jonathan Marx, Matt Swanson, Marc Trovillion, Kurt Wagner and Paul Niehaus.

Lambchop’s music combines wry, ironic lyrics with complex writing, harmonious melodies and soulful backing vocals. Its sound draws on folk and country as well as the smooth soul of Barry White, Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, and it is often treated as an example of the line that country music is “the white man’s soul”.

Labels

The group records on Merge Records and City Slang.