Farrell Lowe & Associates

Three musicians stand in a circle, cables spiraling like roots between their feet — two electric guitars and one electric bass, each running through sprawling pedalboards that breathe, glitch, shimmer, and roar. No sheet music. No preconception. Every sound is born in the moment, shaped by instinct, texture, and trust.

That’s the intro to a description of the recording process of Before and After Silence, the new album by Farrell Lowe, Michael O’Neill and Colin Bricker. It continues: This album is not composed — it is discovered. The guitars stretch beyond melody into atmosphere and gesture; the bass anchors and fractures the field, sometimes thunder, sometimes pulse, sometimes pure color. The players listen as much as they play, carving spontaneous architecture from feedback, delay, and resonance. The result is a conversation of voltage and imagination — an evolving landscape where tone becomes language, silence becomes rhythm, and improvisation becomes revelation.

Farrell is a prolific experimental guitarist and improviser from Boulder, Colorado. He’s been a common denominator of many collaborative projects, including the mind-bending quartet SeFa LoCo and an enigmatic trio with Vickie Dodd and James Hoskins. He’s added unique creative sparks to all of them. For his part, Michael has done the same: he’s at the core of two eclectic duos, Electro Manifesto and Bear the Sleuth, among many others. Explore their collaboration with multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer extraordinaire Colin and other Lowe-brow recordings here.

“Farrell was a farmer until he discovered jazz... then life took a turn.”

— All About Jazz bio

Michael O’Neill, Colin Bricker and Farrell Lowe

Here’s a more official bio:

Farrell Lowe is a guitarist and multi-faceted artist. His work spans jazz, experimental, world fusion and free improvisation, and stylistic versatility places him among leading innovators of his instrument over nearly four decades. He’s released over 30 recordings, plus many others with collaborators. He continues to challenge limits and publish music that defies categorization. He’s also an accomplished stoneworker, painter, woodworker, and instrument maker. Farrell is featured in Episode 12 and Episode 28 of the Right Brain Music Podcast. He also contributed to the compilation album Guitar Improv Summit, Vol. 2, with The Low Mids.

The bigger context here is the expansive and multi-generational creative music scene in the Denver/Boulder axis. Read more about it here, and listen to Farrell, Michael and collaborators in this interview with ample music samples.

“Linked through blues telepathy, SeFa LoCo’s members have summoned the damp interiors of half-finished infrastructures, creaking doors left ajar, entries forgotten on sites of mutilated demolition… Contrasts like these make the group’s ravaging clamor all the sharper, their early-morning quiet all the dimmer. ”

— Ian Gwin, All About Jazz

“These artists know exactly when and when not to play in service of the greater good, and the results are not just delightful, but also reveal greater depths upon repeated listens. Group dynamics, textures, and play are a huge part of this album. Highly recommended listening.”

— Matt Benham