There's a reason Handsome Hound has been called the "musical version of 60 mg of Prozac." With its energetic, lyric-driven music, the group turns quiet rooms into spirited dance halls, in their home city and beyond. The group sets meaningful lyrics to ear-worm melodies, blending musical styles including Americana, folk, rock, pop, and country.
Handsome Hound’s third studio album, Geometry of You, is out everywhere June 5th, featuring the singles Best I Can, Geometry of You, and Someday. It’s an album with songs about love, hope, and at least one song about math. Cuchulain and Claire moved from Washington, DC, their home for four years, to the Bay Area in the fall of 2018, leaving behind many beloved bandmates and musical collaborators. They quickly found a kindred spirit in Wren Elhai, a virtuosic fiddler, singer, and musical jack-of-all-trades, who joined the band and brought a special flair to their live performances and studio recordings. Geometry of You showcases the sound of a band reinventing itself in a new place with new collaborators, stretching out into new styles, and experimenting with new approaches. Almost all instruments on the record were recorded in Claire and Cuchulain’s apartment, except for the horns, which were recorded one afternoon in a friend’s parents’ attic.
Handsome Hound was formed in Washington, DC in 2015 by partners Cuchulain Kelly and Claire Derby. Collaborating with top musicians in the DC area, the band released their debut EP, I Guess We're Doing Alright, in March 2016, featuring the crowd favorite "Hannah." Their second studio album, Mountain on Fire, dropped in summer 2018, featuring the singles “October,” “Mountain on Fire,” “Doghouse,” and “Carina.”
The band has performed at the Kennedy Center in DC, Rockwood Music Hall in NYC, Brick & Mortar in San Francisco, and headlined many venues large and small on the East and West Coast. The group has come to be known as a dynamic live band, experimenting with acoustic and electric instrumentation, horns, and strings.
Claire, Cuchulain, and Wren currently call the Bay Area their musical home. Cuchulain also writes and performs prolifically as a solo artist.