Elephant Micah is a rotating-member band helmed for over twelve years by southern Indiana-based singer and sound recordist Joseph O’Connell. O’Connell’s music pays homage to “classic” song-crafters (Townes Van Zandt, Jackson Browne) and to the tradition of recording on cassette tape (Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, Guided by Voices’ Alien Lanes), nodding to ‘70s songwriter-ism while simultaneously recasting the genre through textural play, ensemble improvisation, and sonic experimentation.

Elephant Micah’s exquisite Louder Than Thou (2012, PoBDistro-02) follows an already extensive catalogue of limited, home-produced, and otherwise difficult-to-find recordings of meditative avant-Americana, which have circulated far and wide among a small, dedicated online fan base. This music’s cult also includes peer musicians like Hiss Golden Messenger, Magnolia Electric Co., Dark Dark Dark, and Breathe Owl Breathe, who have toured with, accompanied, or covered the songs of Elephant Micah.

O’Connell, originally from the adjacent area of “Kentuckiana,” now resides in Bloomington and works as a folklorist with grassroots music communities around the state. These efforts helped earn O’Connell a grant from the state of Indiana in the field of folk and traditional music for 2012.