The Lone Bellow celebrates a decade — and counting 

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The Theater at Innovation Square is an unassuming venue for the alt-folk band The Lone Bellow to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its self-titled debut album, especially on a tour where the preceding dates include three consecutive sold-out shows at Rockwood Music Hall in New York City and an additional sold-out performance at The Sinclair near Boston.

But The Lone Bellow’s stop in Rochester on Tuesday, December 5 isn’t one to sleep on.

The band led by Zach Williams, Kanene Pipkin, and Brian Elmquist has been a near-constant on the Billboard charts for a decade, reaching No. 4 on the US Folk chart for their 2020 album “Half Moon Light” and No. 7 on the Adult Alternative Airplay for “Honey,” a single off the band’s latest studio album, “Love Songs for Losers” from 2022. A live album, released earlier this year, is a powerful document of the band in its natural state.


Since the release of “The Lone Bellow” in 2013, elements of Americana, country, blues, and pop have been easy to pick out in the songs. Other sources of inspiration have been less perceptible, but no less important. The Lone Bellow’s vocal-centric arrangements, loaded with three-part harmonies, are influenced by ’90s R&B powerhouses such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Boyz II Men.

And while the current 10th anniversary tour features The Lone Bellow playing the first record in its entirety in a five-piece format, this isn’t a victory lap. Williams and company are currently recording another album, which they wrote in a 1950s-era firehouse-turned-studio in Henderson, Kentucky. Williams sees the forthcoming project as a time capsule for The Lone Bellow.

“My definition of the band, it’s not so much musical as much as it is five people trying to make stuff together,” he said. “And that takes a lot of trust, a lot of conflict, a lot of enjoying being around each other; and trying to push each other into new places and just not being afraid.”

If that sounds challenging, there’s a reason. Williams added an existential crisis can strike at any time, threatening to end the band.

“You can get hit with that fear just after a show,” he said.


It's been 12 years since the group’s inception, and The Lone Bellow seems to be on solid ground, though achieving that state has been hard won. The more like family the band has become, the easier it has been to pigeonhole and limit one another’s creative contributions — giving bandmates the space to be themselves and evolve has been key.

“Because then, the art that you’re creating together will inevitably end up reflecting that freedom that you’re giving each other, rather than just being like, ‘No, this is what you’re good at’ or ‘This is where you always fail, so I’m gonna stop you there,'" said Williams. "The other side, it takes a little more guts and a little more persistence, but I think that’s one of the key factors in making something that you really care about with your friends.”

The Lone Bellow brings “It’s (Still) Alright: The Lone Bellow 10th Anniversary Tour” to The Theater at Innovation Square on December 5. Doors open at 6:45 p.m., and the show kicks off with opening act Steven Wilson Jr. Tickets start at $27.50. theaterais.com

Daniel J. Kushner is an arts writer at CITY. He can be reached at [email protected].