Mumford & Sons are an indie folk/bluegrass group formed in London in December2007. The band consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, guitar, bass drum), Country Winston (banjo, slide guitar, vocals), Ted Dwane (double bass, drums, vocals), and Ben Lovett (keyboards, accordion, vocals).
Having received critical acclaim from The Guardian on their “Band of the Day” online forum, and resounding praise from nearly everyone who has witnessed them supporting The Maccabees and Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons continue to turn heads in London’s growing folk scene.
Their debut EP, Lend Me Your Eyes, features four tracks, including lead single "Roll away Your Stone". Chess Club released their second EP, "Love Your Ground", on the 3rd November 2009 on 10inch vinyl. The third EP, "The Cave and the Open Sea" (which was limited to 500 vinyls) is available as a download from their official rawrip page. Their debut album Sigh No More was released on Gentlemen of the Road/Island Records on the 5th October 2009, and the first single "Little Lion Man" came out a week earlier.
Several months after the release of Little Lion Man, it was voted #1 by listeners in the Australian Youth Radio station Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2009. They played live in the Triple J studio on the countdown day to celebrate the result. In the summer of 2010, "Little Lion Man" peaked at #1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. "The Cave" peaked at #3 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and #27 on the Billboard Hot 100. Both singles have gone Platinum in the United States.
Mumford & Sons was ranked as one of VH1's "You Oughta Know" artists of 2010.
For the 2011 Grammys, the group were nominated for Best New Artist and Best Rock Song (for "Little Lion Man"), losing both awards, although a performance of "The Cave" at the ceremony gave the group major publicity. For the 2012 Grammys, the group are nominated for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance for "The Cave".
In Sept 2012, the band released their second studio album "Babel" to critical acclaim. It debuted at number one in the US and UK, becoming the fastest selling album of 2012 in the UK and the second-biggest selling debut in 2012 in the US. The album won Album of the Year at the 2013 Grammys. After the huge success of "Babel" and the subsequent tour, Ben Lovett told Rolling Stone "there won’t be any Mumford & Sons' activities for the foreseeable future...we’re going to take a considerable amount of time off and just go back to hanging out and having no commitments or pressure or anything like that."
In Oct 2014, rumors started to circulate that the band were in the studio with producer James Ford, though it remains unclear whether a new third album is in the works.
http://www.myspace.com/mumfordandsons
http://www.mumfordandsons.com/