Describing their style as "new music for old souls," Hoots and Hellmouth are a Philadelphia-based roots music act whose music brings together the passion of alt-country and the rustic tone of acoustic folk, merging them with loping jam band grooves. Sean Hoots and Andrew Gray (aka Hellmouth) were both veterans of the Pennsylvania alternative rock scene when they began making music together in 2005 -- Gray released an album as a member of Midiron Blast Shaft and Hoots spent five years with the group Pilot Around the Sun. Eager to move in a different direction, Hoots and Gray began writing songs together on their acoustic guitars, and started playing out as a duo. In time, friends were joining in with Hoots and Hellmouth on-stage, and before long Rob Berliner on mandolin and Tom Celfo on upright bass (both former members of Pilot Around the Sun) became a regular part of the show. After a breakthrough appearance at the 2006 Philadelphia Folk Festival, the group established a loyal following in its hometown, and frequent touring through the South earned the band a large fan base there as well. Hoots and Hellmouth landed a deal with the WEA-distributed Mad Dragon Records label and in April 2007 they released their debut album, simply called Hoots and Hellmouth. A second album from Mad Dragon, Holy Open Secret, followed two years later in 2009. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
