Twilight Hotel was the musical collaboration between Brandy Zdan and Dave Quanbury. The duo had an elusive chemistry and developed a musical style that is atmospheric, sometimes dark, has a lot of character and is rooted in a kind of nostalgic passion for scratchy records and vintage guitar sounds.
Like in ‘Viva La Vinyl’ ( listen and watch here)
‘Highway Prayer’ their second album and European debut made a huge impression because of its versatility, strong songs and beautiful harmony vocals. The new Johnny (Cash) & June (Carter) was a phrase that popped up regularly in reviews. Beautiful songs, two excellent voices, breathtaking harmony vocals, at times wonderfully jingling guitars, a varied set of instruments, a clean production by singer-songwriter / blues musician Colin Linden (from Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, among others). In short, beautiful roots music with a sharp edge here and there. Besides Colin Linden (guitars, dobro, bass) himself, they were also supported by several guest musicians including the late Richard Bell (Janis Joplin, The Band), Stephen Hodges (Tom Waits) and Dave Roe (Johnny Cash).
The magic is unmistakably present on their debut album [Oor Magazine]
…contains twelve good songs, beautifully instrumented and very well sung by the duo [Heaven Magazine]
A discovery [Humo]
Originally from Winnepeg, Canada, the geographic center of North America, in late 2009 Zdan & Quanbury decided to re-orientate, packed up their instruments, left the mountains and cold of Canada and entered the New Mexico/Arizona desert in the way to their new hometown of Austin, Texas and from there almost directly to Los Angeles, California.
Their third album ‘When the Wolves Go Blind’ was recorded there. Together with a group of musicians including Tom Waits’ drummer Stephen Hodges, the duo locked themselves up for 3 days in Kingsize Soundlabs Studios where they recorded the new album almost live in 3 days.
‘When the Wolves Go Blind’ defines the Twilight Hotel sound. From the hypnotic title track to the cinematic landscape of ‘The Darkness’, the album is infused with a sense of travel and reflection.
When The Wolves Go Blind turned out to be Twilight Hotel’s last album.
Brandy Zdan, now mother of a daughter, moved to Nashville and is building a successful solo career. Dave Quanbury does that too, but in Austin.
Listen & Watch here to ‘When The Wolves Go Blind’
