The group began in San Francisco as Cohen's solo outlet between Fresh & Onlys tour dates, which yielded the albums The Two Sides of Tim Cohen, Laugh Tracks, and Tim Cohen's Magic Trick between 2009 and 2011. When it came time to play the songs live, Cohen tapped James Kim (Kelley Stoltz), Alicia Vanden Heuvel (Aislers Set), and Noelle Cahill, with Magic Trick eventually morphing into a full-time band. The first official Magic Trick release, The Glad Birth of Love, arrived on the Empty Cellar label in 2011, featuring four long-form compositions infused with Cohen's vivid lyrical imagery and sounds ranging from acoustic blues to dense ragas to lush harmonies. It was followed later that year by the Bad Blood EP for Captured Tracks. Magic Trick jumped to the Hardly Art label in 2012, offering sophomore album Ruler of the Night that June, and late in 2013, the project's third album, River of Souls, arrived back on Empty Cellar. A more experimental outing released as two over-15-minute tracks, Half Man Half Machine followed in 2015 via Spiritual Pajamas, with Other Man's Blues reuniting them with Empty Cellar a year later. ~ Chrysta Cherrie