The Maldives are an alt-country

Alternative country

Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...

 band from Seattle, Washington known for sold-out live performances described by KEXP-FM as "transcendent". They have released three albums beginning with a self-titled EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 in 2006. Their most recent album Listen To The Thunder was rated the second best "Northwest Album" of 2009 by Sound on the Sound. The Maldives regularly play in Seattle and have performed at the Sasquatch!

Sasquatch! Music Festival

Sasquatch! Music Festival is a music festival held annually at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington. It is presented by the House of Blues. There is an emphasis on indie rock bands and singer-songwriters, although there are also alternative rock, hip hop and comedy acts...

, Bumbershoot

Bumbershoot

Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington. One of North America's largest such festivals, it takes place every Labor Day weekend at the 74-acre Seattle Center, which was built for the 1962 World's Fair. Seattle Center includes indoor theaters,...

, South by Southwest

South by Southwest

South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...

, and Doe Bay music festivals.

The Maldives provided live orchestration for the 1925 silent movie Riders of the Purple Sage

Riders of the Purple Sage

Riders of the Purple Sage is Zane Grey's best-known novel, originally published in 1912. Most critics agree that it played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre.- Plot in a paragraph :...

 as part of the 2010 Seattle International Film Festival

Seattle International Film Festival

The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...

. They are based in the Ballard

Ballard, Seattle

Ballard is a neighborhood located in the northwestern part of Seattle, Washington. To the north it is bounded by Crown Hill, ; to the east by Greenwood, Phinney Ridge and Fremont ; to the south by the Lake Washington Ship Canal; and to the west by Puget Sound’s Shilshole Bay. The neighborhood’s...

 neighborhood of Seattle and were filmed playing there as part of MTV's

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 online series, $5 Cover

$5 Cover

$5 Cover is an online series created by filmmaker Craig Brewer and produced by MTV and is a fictional series created to complement the documentary series "$5 Cover Amplified"...

.

In addition to traditional rock instrumentation, the members of the band play violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

, lap steel guitar

Lap steel guitar

The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....

, banjo

Banjo

In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

, mandolin

Mandolin

A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...

, and accordion

Accordion

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....

. Once described as "the best unsigned band in Seattle", The Maldives are now represented by Mt. Fuji Records

Mt. Fuji Records

Mt. Fuji Records is an independent record label based out of Seattle, Washington. Their roster includes rock bands such as Little Brazil, The Cops and Slender Means.-Bands:* The Cops* Little Brazil* Slender Means* Wintergreen* New Candidates...

.

Discography

• The Maldives (2006)
• Tequila / Someday (2009)
• Listen To The Thunder (2009)

External links

• The Maldives official website
• The Maldives at NPR Music
• Video from The Maldives performing the soundtrack to Riders of the Purple Sage
  Riders of the Purple Sage
  Riders of the Purple Sage is Zane Grey's best-known novel, originally published in 1912. Most critics agree that it played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre.- Plot in a paragraph :...