November 14th, 2025, 8:00PM
Silkworm with Thousandaire
@ Wild Heaven Garden Club
SILKWORM is a storied and beloved rock band, revered among those in the know. From Montana by way of Seattle and Chicago, “the Worm” is the subject of an upcoming book (Lay It Down in Full View), a feature-length documentary (Couldn't You Wait: The Story of Silkworm), and gratifyingly detailed essays across a variety of publications both print and online. Most importantly, the band released nine distinctive, influential albums and "a bunch" of singles and EPs over the course of a long, creatively fertile existence.
Silkworm was founded in Missoula, Montana in 1987 by Joel R.L. Phelps (guitar/vocals). Joel was joined immediately by fellow founding member Andrew Cohen (guitar/vocals), very shortly thereafter by Tim Midyett (bass/baritone guitar/vocals), and, after their three years in the Montana wilderness and upon landing in Seattle, by a brother from another zip code, Michael Dahlquist (drums).
The original Silkworm quartet played together for four years, touring a lot and releasing various 7" singles, an EP, and three albums, including seminal postpunk releases In the West and Libertine, both of which have been reissued in recent years by Comedy Minus One Records.
In 1994, Joel left the group. Silkworm continued on as a trio. The band toured incessantly over the course of a tenure with Matador Records, releasing the totemic records Firewater and Developer (now reissued on Comedy Minus One), and they ended up moving to Chicago eventually, where they joined forces with Touch and Go Records for four broadly acclaimed albums (all presently in print).
The band was in the middle of making their next album when Michael was tragically killed on July 14th, 2005. Silkworm disbanded immediately amid the devastation of Michael's loss. A truncated version of their final record appears as the Chokes! EP months later, first as a CD on the 12XU label, later reissued on vinyl by Comedy Minus One.
In late July 2024, the band regrouped at an epic weekend memorial to pay tribute to their dear friend and faithful facilitator Steve Albini. Jeff Panall (Songs: Ohia and Tim's band Mint Mile) joined them on drums.
The experience of playing together as a quartet for the first time in thirty years (!) was highly emotional and richly rewarding. The four of them discussed regrouping for some additional events...which lead them to poking at the best possible options for doing so...which brings them to Atlanta at The Garden Club at Wild Heaven West End.
JOEL R.L. PHELPS - guitar, vocals
ANDREW COHEN - guitar, vocals
TIMOTHY MIDYETT - bass, vocals
JEFFREY PANALL - drums
Thousandaire in its present configuration formed in 2017 as a songwriting outlet for Atlanta guitarist Andrew Wiggins. They released two full length albums before the group's lineup settled with Tom Bruno (drums) and Scott Gilliam (bass) and became more of a collaborative effort rather than solely Wiggins's output.
The sound is guitar-forward, down-tempo, often very loud, sometimes very quiet, and usually vaguely sad. Clear influences are heard from the glacial pace of 90’s slowcore bands like Codeine, the raw power and adventurism of Dinosaur Jr, and the economy of motion in songwriting that can only be found with a three piece band that just really loves to play together. The lyrics are like impressionistic vignettes, subtly personal, often dealing with addiction and recovery. People trying to piece together either the remains of a life, or the resources to keep ruining one.
Thousandaire’s third LP recorded with longtime friend Rob Sarabia is set to release early spring ‘26.
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