Strand of Oaks

Strand of Oaks is the rock project by songwriter and producer Timothy Showalter (born July 20, 1982). Originally from Indiana, he currently resides in Austin, Texas. His music has been classified as rock and folk, as well as folk rock.

Showalter has released eight studio albums—Leave Ruin (2009), Pope Killdragon (2010), Dark Shores (2012), Heal (2014), Hard Love (2017), Eraserland (2019), In Heaven (2021) and Miracle Focus (2024).

Early life Showalter was born in Goshen, Indiana. In middle school, he took an interest in organized sports and wanted to become a basketball player. Showalter's athletic career ended early because he developed juvenile rheumatoid arthritis; he took an interest in music and began to pursue a career in teaching instead. After high school, Showalter moved from Indiana to Pennsylvania.

Pope Killdragon (2010) Pope Killdragon is a self-released album by Showalter. The album was produced by audio engineer, Ben Vehorn. While holding onto Strand of Oaks' folky sound, Vehorn added in synthesizers and effects pedals to create an album with a sound that was unexplored territory for Showalter. the album sold poorly and received little attention before the release of Heal.

Dark Shores (2012) Dark Shores is the second album self-released by Showalter. Stylistically the album represents a turn to a more straightforward rock style; it is the first Strand of Oaks album recorded entirely with a full band.

Hard Love (2017) On December 1, 2016, Timothy Showalter announced the fifth album from Strand of Oaks called Hard Love, which was released on February 17, 2017. He also released the first single off the album called "Radio Kids". Strand of Oaks appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly, live at the Troubadour in L.A., first broadcast May 17, 2017.

Hard Love received mixed to positive reviews from critics after its release. Metacritic assigned it a weighted average of 65, indicating "generally favorable reviews". In Pitchfork, Stephen M. Deusner wrote that the album "never really adds up to a particularly clear or bold statement," ultimately assigning it a score of 6.5 out of 10. In a more positive review for The Line of Best Fit, Erik Thompson gave Hard Love a 9 out of 10 and praised its optimistic tone.

On January 19, 2018, Showalter released a follow-up to Hard Love, Harder Love, through Dead Oceans. The project was announced in December 2017, and includes demos, B-sides, and alternative renditions of songs from Hard Love.

Eraserland (2019) On March 22, 2019, Strand of Oaks released their sixth album, Eraserland via Dead Oceans. The lead single off the album, "Weird Ways", was released January 15, 2019.

On February 19, 2019, Strand of Oaks released a second single from the album. Called "Ruby", Showalter called it the "happiest song I've ever written."

To promote the release of Eraserland, Showalter (with Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, My Morning Jacket members Bo Koster and Tom Blankenship, and Will Johnson) appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and performed "Ruby".

In Heaven (2021) On October 1, 2021, Strand of Oaks released their eighth album In Heaven.

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2017 28 Hard Love

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2021 26 In Heaven "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.