The Handsome Family

The Handsome family plays alternative country music and are from Chicago. They formed back in 1993, they are a husband and wife duo called Brett and Rennie Sparks, along with their drummer called Mike Werner. The band did primarily revolve around the couple though who wrote and sang the songs though. The group performed all over America and Europe together in support of their first release of their album 'Odessa' in 1994 along with 'Milk and Scissors' in 1996. Although they have some strange names for their albums and music, they still seemed to get some good recognition from their fans for the stuff they were producing. But not all went well for them, because Brett had a breakdown and was later diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. The couple used this though by turning their hard times into something positive by making a third album that spoke about the problems they faced and over coming them, this even included Brett's song about his experience in the psychiatric unit. The group are not what I'd usually be interested in but they really managed to connect with me when they were singing. They are passionate and provide a really moving performance that made me feel like I knew what they were singing about. All of them are lovely musicians and made me have a newfound respect for country music.