Sean DiLeonardi: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, Concertina, Melodica, Rhodes
Matt DiLeonardi: Drums, Percussion
Philip Damery: Pedal Steel, Dobro, Lap Steel, Mandolin, Electric Guitar
Jonathan Damery: Upright Bass, Mandolin

Base of operations: Denver, CO and Bloomington-Normal, IL

MP3s at www.myspace.com/thedowry

Biography:
Somewhere between a spaghetti western bar fight and an old silent movie, the music of The Dowry finds an appropriate backdrop. With an affinity for traditional inspirations such as folk and blues, The Dowry translates their passion into a modern medium with an expansive use of instrumentation.

Formerly known as Aslan, the boys released the Shipwrecked EP with Armada in Flames Records in 2005, which they subsequently sold out of since then. They have had the opportunity to share the stage with great names such as Denison Witmer, Unwed Sailor, Early Day Miners, Fear Before the March of Flames, Scouts Honor, The Forecast, Spitalfield, Emery, Dead Poetic, and many others.

With the new name in effect, The Dowry has completed recording their first full-length record—The Circus and the Sea—a thematic album which narrates the tale of a lonely and desolate sailor searching the seas for aesthetic truth and someone to share his sorrow with. The album promises to explore the band’s interest in instrumental experimentation, while holding true to the blues, folk, and indie roots that define them.

Similar artists: Murder By Death, Damien Jurado, David Bazan, Bright Eyes, Rocky Votolato

Discography:
V/A "Playing In Peoria: Another Side Of Town" Live Music Peoria 2008
"The Circus and the Sea" Thinker Thought Records 2007
"Shipwrecked EP" Armada In Flames (released under previous name, Aslan) 2005


The Dowry - Download printable press photo 1 (2828 x 1885 jpeg - by Brett Rhoades)


The Dowry - Download printable press photo 2 (1065 x 757 jpeg - by Brett Rhoades)

Track Listing:
1. Intro
2. Cigarette
3. The Waltz
4. Three Graves for Evelyn
5. Solomon
6. A Military Ghost
7. What We've Thus Discovered
8. Pleasure Island
9. O, Murderer
10. Painting Graves
11. Catch Our Death
12. Belly of a Whale
13. A Premonition Concerning the Animal Kingdom

Press:
"One of the state's most recent contributions to traditional music is from The Dowry, in their debut release The Circus & the Sea (Thinker Thought). A concept album, the disc tells the story of a restless search for beauty and meaning, eventually exposing the illusion of two metaphors for escape." - Michael Meade of Skyscraper Magazine

"I've had the music of the band The Dowry ruminating and stewing in my head for the last month or so, but was unsure if I'd ever get up the gumption to do a post. But the band's in town this weekend to support their new release The Circus and the Sea and are playing Heartland Cafe, so that's a perfect opportunity to link to a song and encourage you to check out their music.

"The Dowry are from downstate Illinois and record for a decent little label called Thinker Thought Records. The nearest contemporary band that shares their love of pirate sea shanties and gothic Americana is probably Murder by Death but at times you'll be able to hear a bit of the gypsy punk of Gogol Bordello (especially the song 'Pleasure Island')." - Transmission: Gapers Block

"You’ve just got to hand it to a band that debuts with a concept album. Central Illinois folk act, The Dowry, has created an album that weaves a tale of biblical proportions about a sailor searching for something in everything and finding nothing. Sean DiLeonardi’s sleepy and plaintive vocals are a good match for the album’s theme, seemingly ripped straight from King Solomon’s writings in Ecclesiastes. DiLeonardi is backed by his brother Matt on drums and brother-duo Phil and Jon Damery on practically every stringed instrument imaginable. These guys are young and yet seem to write and play with the seasoning of old pros. I first met Jon Damery when I was his teacher at a youth camp in June of ’06. Alisha & I then met his sister Rachel when we did volunteer work in Poland in July of '06. I met Phil in September when he sat in with Casados at the Cowboy Monkey." - Chase Abner

"Brotherly love would be the best way to describe The Dowry. The band consists of two sets of brothers who, along with love for each other, share the same love in music. Sean DiLeonardi and Phil Damery, members of The Dowry, met as roommates in college and both played music with their brothers. Since then, The Dowry has been together for three years. The band's shared passion for music and combined unique styles make them very difficult to categorize by genre. The Dowry claim that what makes this band of brothers so unique is that they do not force their music. By combining the two different styles of both sets of the DiLeonardis and the Damerys, they create almost a hybrid genre." - Chris Gajda of DEN News

"Peel back for one moment and go deep. See that soul within you, that little blue ball surrounded by spiking white lightning? How do you sooth that? The Dowry are a quick fix for all inner turmoil. The Circus & the Sea puts any small bumps into perspective with a tale of redemption through wrong doing. Theme albums automatically garner credit from myself, but a story album is a lofty precipice few have attempted.

"The Circus & the Sea is a David Lynchian tale divided into 3 pieces corkscrewed together by The Dowry's interesting mix of folk and haunting extras. The label of folk can corner a band into a lot of solo artists with acoustic six-strings, but thankfully not here. Trumpets, piano, mandolins, a melodica, concertina, scattered drums and percussion lift this folk to apparitious highs. A melding that is ghost-folk. 

"Let's return to that little blue ball you carry on your back everyday. Can you feel the white lightning dissipating? The ache in your chest floating out through your throat when you connect with The Dowry's The Circus & The Sea. The floating heights it goes through it aural instrumentation is marvelously bittersweet. Really easy to understand and right now a personal favorite. This dowry you'll actually get more than you pay for. - Jim Jacka of Impose Magazine (August 2007)

"This is a really cool idea. I know that other bands have done the concept, storybook album before, but The Dowry actually have this set up as a story, full of lyrical prose that goes along with the music. The story is a decent one, but the music far outshines it (I could also be much too tired to interpret anything from the story).

" The Dowry lay things back with soft but emotional indie folk country rock, led by the powerful and mesmerizing vocals of Sean DiLeonardi. The music sometimes goes through the bare minimum, which only helps its cause, as the minimal approach works incredibly well for these guys. I really love how DiLeonardi just takes control of all these songs and gets this story across, adding so much more audible enjoyment to the story at hand.

" I really appreciate bands who think outside the box, and The Dowry are pretty far from where most bands are right now. The music backs up the idea, and The Dowry are well on their way to popular musical aspirations." - The Playlist Dot Net

“'Have another glass of wine, I’ve got a story and I’m sure you’ve got the time', Sean Deolanardi sings on 'Cigarette', the first song of The Dowry’s debut album The Circus & The Sea. His fragile voice goes on to sing about 'love and loss and life and crime' with an acoustic guitar strumming in the background. A concept album is a quite ambitious for a debut, but the story-in-three-parts that the Bloomington, IL band tackles here holds up beautifully due to strong sense of songwriting and style. The songs paint a picture for you of a dusty old western bar and themes of depravity and redemption flow through it’s entirety.

"My favorite stretch of the album begins with 'Pleasure Island' an upbeat song about a town where they 'do what they please and they say what they mean' that ends with an accidental killing after shooting rounds into air. The rolling piano and the twangy guitar serves as a backdrop for this tune, that also features a very catchy chorus and some seemingly Johnny Cash-inspired lyrics. If you’re a fan of Murder By Death, then you’ll probably recognize this dusty western road style sung with deep, burrowing vocals, but I’d also recommend The Dowry to those who favor the passion and emotional investment in the story that Okkervil River portrays." - Music For People Who Can't Read Good

"Early this summer I finished producing, engineering, mixing and mastering a full length record for a Bloomington/Normal based band called The Dowry. Please take time to check them out and go see them live. They are a band that I feel has some real promise. Great songwriting and musicianship. What more could you ask for!!!?!?" - BJ Aberle

“First impressions mean everything. I get this CD in the mail and look at the cover and realize that it is not some glossy booklet. It is just a sheet of paper with a design of a flower on it. With further inspection it seems that each cover was hand printed and numbered. To put that much time into making each individual booklet really shows something about the label and the band. They really believe in what they are doing. From the start I knew they deserved an in depth listen. As for the music, this sh*t plain out rocks. Aslan play a folky styles indie music akin to DAVID DONERO and older BRIGHT EYES. After listening to it a couple of times, this could definitely fit nicely on early Saddle Creek or Crank catalogue. The lyrics and vocals mix very well together and make songs feel complete. For a band I had never heard of before, Aslan has slowly become one of my favorite and most played bands of 2005. Many bands can create a sound like this, but there are very few that can do it this well.” - AMP Magazine (Aslan "Shipwrecked EP")