Formed by childhood friends Evan Stephens Hall (lead vocals and guitar) and Zack Levine (drums) in 2010, Pinegrove are an alt-country band based in Montclair, New Jersey. Though the remainder of the band’s lineup has varied throughout its existence, it has generally included Josh Marré, Sam Skinner, Adan Carlo Feliciano, Nick Levine, Nandi Rose Plunkett of Half Waif as well as David Mitchell between 2016-17, and Megan Benavente from 2019 onwards. The band is named after a grid of pine trees in a nature reserve at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, where Hall attended college. The band is also known for its recurring symbolical use of squares and an ampersands.
Pinegrove’s 2010 debut EP Mixtape 1 was followed in 2012 by the self released debut album, Meridian and then two further self-released EPs (&, 2013, and Mixtape 2, 2014). All tracks from these first four projects were compiled in 2014 to form Everything So Far, which was later rereleased when the band signed its first record deal with Run for Cover in 2015.
In 2016 the band had their commercial breakthrough with their critically acclaimed major-label debut Cardinal, gathering a significant fan-base before headlining their first US and European tours.
In November 2017 during the build up to the release of their 3rd studio album, frontman Evan Stephens Hall posted a statement on the band’s social media pages detailing an accusation of sexual coercion, and announcing that the group would be going on hiatus with immediate effect; delaying the album and any upcoming tour dates out of respect for his accuser. The band subsequently separated from Run for Cover Records before finally releasing Skylight independently in late September 2018.
After signing to Rough Trade Records, a fourth LP, Marigold, was released in January 2020, followed a year later by the feature length film Amperland, NY (and its soundtrack), containing a selection of live tracks from across the bands discography. In November 2021 the band announced their fifth album 11:11 would be released in January 2022.