band formed

When the band was formed in 1999, it was called “The National”, although the domain name of the band’s website is americanmary.com because, according to Matt Berninger, “it’s a song off our first record. We never thought of changing the (website) name, although we should have.” Several of the members continued to work day jobs, including being involved in New York’s dot-com boom , while performing free Sunday night shows regularly at Lower East Side venue Luna Lounge . Their first album, The National , was eventually released in 2001 on Brassland Records , a label founded by band members Aaron and Bryce Dessner, along with their friend Alec Hanley Bemis. When reviewing the album, Jason MacNeil of No Depression wrote, “…The National has created nearly a dozen picture-perfect Americana bar-soaked gems with its debut album. From the opening notes of ‘Beautiful Head’, the delicate line between polished roots-oriented pop and alt-country has rarely been walked so deliberately with the payoff so favorable.”