Handsome Hound

There's a reason Handsome Hound has been called the "musical version of 60 mg of Prozac." With its energetic, lyric-driven music, the group turns quiet rooms into spirited dance halls, in their home city and beyond. The group sets meaningful lyrics to ear-worm melodies buoyed by guitars, drums, and horns, blending musical styles and influences including folk, rock, pop, Americana, and country.

Handsome Hound was formed in Washington, DC in 2015 by partners Cuchulain Kelly and Claire Daviss, who met through music communities. Collaborating with top musicians in the DC area, the band released their debut EP, I Guess We're Doing Alright, in 2016, featuring the crowd favorite "Hannah."

Since then, the band has rapidly developed a devoted following. They perform in intimate house shows up and down the East Coast, and have headlined some of the DC’s historic music venues and festivals, including the Black Cat, Rock and Roll Hotel, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Millennium Stage. The group has come to be known as a dynamic live band, experimenting with acoustic and electric instrumentation, horns, and strings.

In 2018, Handsome Hound self-released its ten-song debut LP, Mountain on Fire. Engineered by Beat Baby Studios (Wye Oak, Lower Dens) and mastered by Sarah Register (Big Thief, The Shins), the highly anticipated album captures the band’s energetic live sound while elevating carefully crafted lyrics. Written over the course of several years, the album draws heavily on Claire’s and Cuchulain’s experiences as “weekend warriors” - musicians who work full-time jobs while committing their weekends to writing and performing, a balance typical for artists living in DC. While retaining tongue-in-cheek playfulness, the songs grapple with loneliness, feeling out of place, anxiety, and growing up.

Claire and Cuchulain now live in Palo Alto, CA and call the Bay Area their musical home.