About Lost In The Trees

Lost in the Trees is an experimental indie-pop band comprised of Ari Picker on guitars and keyboards, Mark Daumen on bass and tuba, Emma Nadeau on piano, and Joah Tunnell on guitar. Their most recent album, Past Life (2014), is considerably stripped down from the orchestral approach of its predecessors, All Alone In An Empty House, and A Church That Fits Our Needs. Lost In The Trees was known, until recently, as a folk orchestra from Chapel Hill, NC, led by composer and songwriter Ari Picker. Initially a bedroom recording project, Lost in the Trees grew from a solo effort to a full symphonic band, which sometimes numbered a dozen members. After releasing his self-titled album on Trekky Records, Ari attended the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, MA, further immersing himself in the realm of classical composition. While in Boston, Ari assembled a small group of players to help him record Time Taunts Me , an EP of giant orchestral pop songs, released in 2007 on Trekky Records. The short album received some generous acclaim from national critics, but as Ari hurried to finish school, he was unable to tour in support of the music. After finally moving back to North Carolina, Ari began writing a new album and assembling a cast of musicians from the Trekky Records Collective and the University of North Carolina Orchestra program. With a vast and supportive team behind him, Ari completed the powerful All Alone in an Empty House . The album was released in a single three-format package in September of 2008, containing a vinyl record, a CD and an MP3 download. The compositions benefited from a dedicated live backing band, complete with full string section, horn section, accordion, mandolin, glockenspiels and more.In February 2010, Lost in the Trees signed to Los Angeles based Anti- Records, which released an enhanced version of All Alone In An Empty House, reworked by acclaimed North Carolina producer Scott Solter (The Mountain Goats, Spoon, St. Vincent). In 2012 the band released A Church That Fits Our Needs, their highly acclaimed orchestral pop/folk album. The album met with great commercial as well as critical success. Ari Picker decided, despite the success, to make some changes, pursuing a more minimalistic and electronic approach to the new material, and changing the lineup to a foursome. The album, Past Life, was released in February of 2014 to widespread acclaim.