1999-2003
How To Be Timeless Tonight, Blessed are the Trials We Will Find
Tiger Saw formed in 1999 in Newburyport, MA. The “classic” lineup consisted of Dylan Metrano and JR Gallagher on guitars, Juliet Nelson on cello, Matt Kulik on drums, and Jake Trussell on bass.
The band self-released their debut “How To Be Timeless Tonight” in 2000, and signed to Kimchee Records to release “Blessed are the Trials We Will Find”, which included re-recorded versions of some of the “Timeless” songs, as well as new songs.
Tiger Saw toured a lot from the beginning, and played shows in this era with Tarentel, Calvin Johnson, Mirah, the Microphones, Vanessa Carlton, Ida, Tara Jane O’Neal, Songs: Ohia, Explosions in the Sky, Liz Janes, Jason Anderson, Viking Moses, and many more.
2004
gimme danger / gimme sweetness
2004 saw Tiger Saw’s first international touring with a trip to the UK with Viking Moses and Dublin’s Goodtime John. Back home, the band recorded their second Kimchee album “gimme danger / gimme sweetness” with new drummer Andrew Nelson, and featured contributions from Jason Anderson, Marc Gartman, blindbanjodjim, and Colin Rhinesmith.
Tiger Saw toured with Kimchee labelmates Seekonk, and the two bands often collaborated onstage. Dylan also moonlighted as a guitar player in Hotel Alexis.
Lots more touring saw the band playing shows with Viking Moses, Dirty Projectors, the Weeds, Phosphorescent, Little Wings, Magnolia Electric Co., Jason Anderson, and more.
2005-2006
Sing!
2005 saw the release of Tiger Saw’s final Kimchee album, “Sing!”, and the band expanded to over a dozen members at a time, including new drummer Gregg Porter, bassists Sam Buck Rosen and Nat Baldwin, and pianist Casey Dienel alongside a chorus of singers.
Still touring non-stop, 2005 saw a full European tour with Kimya Dawson and Jason Anderson. The band also played shows with Ponies in the Surf, Castanets, Lazarus, Nat Baldwin, Grizzly Bear, Death Vessel, Casey Dienel, the Gossip, and many more.
In 2006, Tiger Saw toured the US as a quartet featuring Dylan Metrano, Dan Blakeslee, Alan Bull, and Angel Deradoorian; as a trio with Casey Dienel, Metrano, and Deradoorian; and duos with Metrano and Annie Palmer and Metrano and Christopher Holt. They played shows with Tilly and the Wall, Picastro, Casey Dienel, Brown Bird, Annie Palmer, Cake on Cake, and Unbunny.
2007
Tigers on Fire
Tiger Saw signed to Tract Records and released their “basement soul” album “Tigers on Fire”, featuring a combination of the old-school slowcore sound and a new r&b- influenced dirty soul sound. The band on this album included Jason Anderson, Ben Baldwin, Nat Baldwin, Chris Barrett, Shawn Creeden, Angel Deradoorian, Brett Deschenes, Casey Dienel, Brian Dunn, Tom Eaton, Nate Groth, John McCauley, Dylan Metrano, Juliet Nelson, Annie Palmer, Gregg Porter, Djim Reynolds, Sam Rosen, and Marika Shimkus.
A new lineup formed to play shows, including drummer Dylan Clark, bassist Erik Tans, trumpeter Chris Barrett, and trombonist Buggsy. Tiger Saw played shows with Thalia Zedek, Small Sur, Adam Torres, Tan Vampires, Laura Veirs, Hello Shark, Marcellus Hall, and Cathy Cathodic. At the end of the year, the band returned to Europe for a month-long tour.
2008-2009
The Sky and the Dirt
In 2008, Tiger Saw toured as a trio with Dylan Metrano, Anna Vogelzang, and Joseph Arnold. Then Metrano did a solo tour with the rapper Cathy Cathodic. The full band performed a live score to the silent film “The Adventures of Prince Achmed” and played shows with Wye Oak, Dirty Projectors, and many others.
Metrano toured as Paper Birds with Guy Capecelatro III, Jerusha Robinson, and Jeremy Robinson. They recorded an album, and released it as Tiny Fires on Burst & Bloom Records, the new label founded by Metrano and Capecelatro.
In 2009, Tiger Saw toured with new members Mandy Sabine (now Metrano), Jeremy Robinson, Jerusha Robinson (now Neely), and Jesse Rifkin. Many of the shows were with the Rifkin’s band the Wailing Wall.
Tiger Saw recorded the follow-up to “Tigers on Fire”- the experimental, rhythmic “The Sky and the Dirt” album, which featured an expanded lineup and a collaboration with Cathy Cathodic. The album was shelved for years, though it was briefly released as a download in 2012, and a few of the songs from it were later re-recorded.
Tiny Fires toured in 2009, and played shows with Julie Doiron, Herman Dune, Brown Bird, and others.
At the end of 2009, Metrano and Sabine toured Australia and New Zealand with the band Castanets.
2010-2014
Nightingales
2010 saw a new lineup: Dylan Metrano, Evan Orfanos, Christopher Holt, Glenn Forsythe, Emily Forsythe, and Guy Capecelatro III. They recorded a new album, “Nightingales” which also featured a string quartet and harkened back to the classic slowcore sound.
Tiger Saw played shows with Scout Niblett, Deer Tick, Lazarus, Castanets, Lady Lamb, Unbunny, Pearl & the Beard, White Hinterland and more.
Metrano toured with a reformed Hotel Alexis under the name Winter Sons.
2011 – 2012 saw more touring with Brown Bird, Golden Ghost, Guy Capecelatro III, Gregg Porter, and Hello Shark.
2013 – 2014 were relatively quiet, with the band only playing three shows in those years.
2015-2018
Horn Hill
A new lineup, consisting of Metrano, Gregg Porter, Guy Capecelatro III, and Djim Reynolds recorded the album “Horn Hill” on Monhegan Island, ME. Recorded over a weekend, it’s the most stripped-down Tiger Saw album.
The band also played several tribute shows to the late Jason Molina, and contributed to a compilation of Molina covers called “Through the Static and Distance”.
Tiger saw toured with Viking Moses at the end of 2015.
2016 saw a one-night reunion of the “Blessed”-era lineup of Metrano, Nelson, Gallagher, Kulik, with Djim Reynolds.
Tiger Saw played sporadically throughout 2017-2018, including shows with Chris Staples, Marissa Nadler, Twain, Buck Meek, and more.
2019-2020
In 2019, Tiger Saw released “The Featherweight”, the big-band funk follow-up to “Tigers on Fire” that was a decade in the making. The band included Jason Anderson, Guy Capecelatro III, Stu Dias, Mara Flynn, Chris Klaxton, Eric Klaxton, Jocelyn MacKenzie, Marc McElroy, Dylan Metrano, Emily Hope Price, Djim Reynolds, Jim Rioux, and Erik Tans.
Tiger Saw only played a few shows in 2019, and COVID-19 put an end to shows after only one Portland, Maine appearance in February, 2020.
2021-2022
Tiger Saw recorded a collaborative country album at the end of 2019 with the Arkansas band Dylan Earl & the Reasons Why. “Wet & Unlucky” also features harmonies from Dead Gowns’ Geneviève Beaudoin, and was released on Epifo Music in July of 2021.
Tiger Saw toured with Dylan Earl in 2021 with a new lineup consisting of Hamilton Belk, Alan Bull, Guy Capecelatro III, Dylan Earl, Dylan Metrano, Charlotte Moroz, and Erik Tans. In 2022, they played a few shows with a lineup including Bull, Capecelatro, Metrano, Moroz, and Tans.
In October 2022, Metrano played a tribute show to the late Ray Raposa (Castanets) in San Diego with Andy Abelow on Saxophone.
2023 – 2024
Card Tricks for the Love SIck
Now a sextet featuring Alan Bull, Guy Capecelatro III, Chris Côté, Marc McElroy, Dylan Metrano and Erik Tans, Tiger Saw spent a couple years recording two albums. The first, Card Tricks for the Love Sick“, will be released in May 2024.
In 2023, the band played shows with Winterpills, Hello Shark, Eastern Mountain Time, and more.
TIGERS ON RECORD:
- Jason Anderson 2, 3, 4, 7
- Ben Baldwin 4
- Nat Baldwin 3, 4
- Chris Barrett 4
- Geneviève Beaudoin 8
- Nikole Beckwith 3
- Hamilton Belk 8, 9
- Jonathan Blakeslee 9
- blindbanjodjim / Djim Reynolds 2, 3, 4, 6, 7
- Alan Bull 3, 9
- Guy Capecelatro III 5, 6, 7, 9
- Lindsay Clark 3
- Chris Côté 9
- Shawn Creeden 4
- David Michael Curry 1, 9
- Dick Darden 8
- Angel Deradoorian 4
- Brett Deschenes 4
- Stu Dias 7, 9
- Casey Dienel 3, 4
- Brian Dunn 1, 3, 4
- Dylan Earl 8, 9
- Tom Eaton 4
- Mike Effenberger 9
- Mary Fahey 3
- Mara Flynn 7, 9
- Emily Forsythe 5
- Glenn Forsythe 5
- Helena Gabrielsson (née Sundin) 5, 9
- JR Gallagher 1, 2, 3
- Marc Gartman 2
- Nate Groth 4
- Lillian Harris 5
- Wesley Allen Hartley 5
- Christopher Holt / Kryce Clayton 3, 5
- Clara Kebabian 5
- Chris Klaxton 7
- Eric Klaxton 7, 9
- Matt Kulik 1
- Jocelyn Mackenzie 7
- John McCauley 4
- Marc McElroy 7, 9
- Alex McGregor 4
- Camille McGregor 4
- Dylan Metrano 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
- Andrew Nelson 2
- Juliet Nelson 1, 2, 3, 4
- Evan Orfanos 5
- Annie Palmer 4
- Gregg Porter 3, 4, 6
- Emily Hope Price 5, 7
- Colin Rhinesmith 1, 2
- Jim Rioux 7
- Jerusha Robinson 5
- Sam Rosen 3, 4
- Bree Scanlon 9
- Marika Shimkus 4
- Dan Sullivan 9
- MorganEve Swain 5
- Erik Tans 7, 9
- Jake Trussell 1
- Sarah White 9
- Chris Wood 8
- Thalia Zedek 9
- Lee Zodrow 8, 9
1: Blessed Are the Trials We Will Find; 2: gimme danger / gimme sweetness; 3: Sing!, 4: Tigers on Fire; 5: Nightingales; 6: Horn Hill; 7: The Featherweight; 8: Wet & Unlucky; 9: Card Tricks for the Love Sick
TIGER SAW 