Dubious Ranger

Dubious Ranger is an indie art-rock four-piece based in San Francisco. Originally a solo project of classically trained piano virtuoso Alexander Eccles, Dubious Ranger, was first conceived in 2004 when Eccles, with the help of his brother Jon, recorded and released the dark and brooding "To Begin With, They're Very Tall". The project was out of action until late 2006 when Aaron Sankin (bass) and Brendan Ahern (drums) joined to flesh out the sound.

In 2007, the band, with a new, brighter, fuller sound released both an EP, Haircut For A Music Montage, and a full-length, "Even These Things Tell Stories". Both were released on The Nothing Room.

In 2008 the band began gigging more heavily, opening for Phil Lesh & Friends at The Fillmore along with many other smaller gigs. Dubious recorded a new full-length concept album, "Uneasy Truce At The Watering Hole", released in April 2009 through their Nothing Room imprint to unanimous rave reviews from indie music critics. The album's first single, "Weapon", had some viral success with its music video, and received placement in a Youtube ad campaign for the video game Red Faction 2. The band then recorded an EP of covers, "Butchers Volume 1", in summer 2009, and released the album in October as a special free download. Butchers features novel takes on classics by Radiohead, The Velvet Underground, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Kenny Rogers, among other artists the band considers its heroes. Dubious Ranger won "Band of the Month" from esteemed Bay Area blog Deli Mag SF that same month. November 2009 saw the introduction of the band's innovative "Your Song" service, in which the group offered to write and record personalized songs for fans for just $25 (don't believe it? here: www.dubiousranger.com/v1/buycustomsong). In that same month, Alexander also cut a solo project, tentatively called King Baldwin, with a wide array of virtuoso session players. Dubious Ranger will be finishing their busy year by recording an as-of-yet unnamed EP in December, which will feature some new live favorites including their Pavement-esque "Why Call It A Crime".