It’s always great to have a home team worth cheering for, and seeing them ascend quickly through the ranks only serves to further galvanize support.

Only a few years after being teammates in a summer baseball league, Ben Knox Miller and Jeff Prystowsky formed the Low Anthem, a musical act worthy of Providence’s loyalty.  Both Brown graduates with the class of 2006, the two later teamed up with fellow alumna Jocie Adams to form the group’s current lineup in 2007. Just two years later they’re signed to Nonesuch Records and taking the stage at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, South by Southwest, and the Newport Folk Festival.

The group distinguishes itself from acts like the Fleet Foxes with whom they are often compared simply by virtue of their shimmering vocals and folk influences. Every member of the group is a multi-instrumentalist, and they trade instruments frequently during a performance.  Their last record featured some 27 instruments, including Tibetan prayer bowls and a refurbished pump organ from World War I that chaplains brought into the battlefield. The group recently acquired a melodeon, and, according to Prystowsky, Adams “started sawing planks Sunday for a hurdy-gurdy.” Their current road gear includes “enough harmonicas to summon a swarm of locusts.”

Prystowsky reports that the group’s experience at the larger festivals this summer affected them in two ways: “One, playing next to Lucinda Williams and Elvis Costello will scare the pants off of you. Two, trying to play your set over the sound of a much louder band playing in the adjacent tent will make you focus. If you can play a festival, you can probably play anywhere.” Tonight’s cozier venue promises to allow the group ample opportunity to focus, and they’ll likely be the intimidating ones.