OK, maybe thoughtful lead singer Ben Bridwell and his band’s easy stylings don’t conjure a stampede, but this should be one of this year’s small club highlights. The South Carolina-based band, which will tour Europe next month, is playing in support of it’s second album, “Cease to Begin.” The CD ended up on many ‘best of 2007′ lists last month.

Here’s a recent interview from Boston.

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Band of Horses w/ Cass McCombs and Tyler Ramsey

Gargoyle, Thursday, January 31^st; doors: 7:30, show: 8:00

WU students: FREE; Public: $12 in advance, $15 day of show (must be 18+ to enter)

Advanced tickets are sold out and a limited number of tickets will be sold at the door.

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The Boston Herald, January 21, 2008

There’s no reining in this Band of Horses, By TOM KIELTY

There are moments when an up-and-coming band feels as though it might be seeing the fruits of its labors - like when Bruce Springsteen gives you props in Spin magazine.

“That was pretty cool,” said Band of Horses frontman Ben Bridwell. “But then that same week we met (Rolling Stone) Ron Wood at a BBC television show and heard we’d gotten mentioned in the press by Dave Grohl and Johnny Marr, so it was all pretty crazy.”

Crazy is the world in which you dwell when your sophomore CD, “Cease to Begin,” an extraordinary blast of soaring sonics and unflinchingly emotional lyrics, lands on Spin and Rolling Stone’s year-end best lists.

“I was definitely a rock mag kid,” Bridwell said, “so that was cool. But obviously you don’t think of that stuff when you’re making music.”

Bridwell and his band have evolved significantly since their well-received debut, 2006’s “Everything All the Time.” Original partner Mat Brooke - who Bridwell had played with in Seattle band Clarissa’s Weird - left the project soon after its release, and Bridwell toured with current Horses Rob Hampton on bass and Creighton Barrett on drums.

Now, in order to replicate the ambitious tone of the band’s studio releases, they’ve added multi-instrumentalist Tyler Ramsey as a full-time member. Ramsey got the gig based in large part on his work as Band of Horses’ opening act, a role he’s continuing on their current tour, which plays a sold-out Paradise on Wednesday.

Keyboardist Ryan Monroe, like Bridwell a native of South Carolina, and Bill Reynolds, formerly of the jam outfit Donna the Buffalo, have also joined the stable of touring Horses.

Formed in Seattle and now based in South Carolina, Band of Horses has been the beneficiary of considerable buzz from tastemakers in print and online. But it’s Neil Young-meets-My Morning Jacket sound is also getting significant mainstream exposure via a Ford commercial featuring Band of Horses’ song “Funeral.” That became clear to Bridwell when he was watching the recent Sugar Bowl game between the University of Georgia and Hawaii.

“I’m a huge Georgia Bulldogs fan,” Bridwell said by phone from his home in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. “To hear my song in the middle of such a big game was really cool.”

And he shows no embarrassment about the use of the band’s “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands” on TV in the guilty pleasure series “Gossip Girl.” Quite the contrary.

“Anytime these talented people can make use of something you’ve created within the framework of their own project, it’s a nice compliment,” Bridwell said.

Now Bridwell is looking to the next Band of Horses record. When asked when the writing process begins, he doesn’t hesitate.

“Now,” he said. “I’d like it if `Cease’ is the only record that only has my songs. ‘Everything’ has a couple of Mat’s songs, and I have the best band I’ve ever had now, so I really want to write with them.”

Bridwell seems to have lined up all his ducks in a nice row.

“We trust the people we work with,” he said. “And when you have people who are good at what they do and trustworthy, it makes decision-making a lot easier.”

But before writing more songs or setting out on tour, Bridwell had a more immediate plan: spending the afternoon surfing.

“Yeah, it’s 35 (degrees) down here, but we’re going out,” he said. “Just as soon as I’m done with this interview.”