"[11] In February 2008, the band completed an extensive UK tour with support from Alessi's Ark, Sons of Noel and Adrian, Peggy Sue and others.

The experience helped inform his attitude towards Mumford & Sons audiences, which is to interact frequently and to try to create a comfortable, casual atmosphere.

[12] Mumford & Sons' first project was an EP entitled Love Your Ground which took a year to complete and was released in November 2008 on Chess Club Records.

[7] Throughout 2008 and into 2009, Mumford & Sons performed in small to moderate venues in the UK and US, exposing audiences to Love Your Ground tracks and other material that would eventually become Sigh No More.

The band told the Herald Sun that they self-financed the album to avoid the artistic and technical compromises that sometimes befall studio-financed projects.

Dew Process boss Paul Piticco signed the band after witnessing a US performance in 2009 and appreciating their "honest" approach and unique sound.

[16] In their first performance on US network television, the band played "Little Lion Man" on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman on 17 February 2010.

The performance earned positive media attention and boosted visibility for Sigh No More—US sales increased by 99% in the period following the ceremony in February 2011.

[25] On 7 December 2010, in collaboration with Dharohar Project and Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons released an EP album recorded in Delhi, India.

The album was recorded in a makeshift studio with traditional Rajasthani musicians and features four collaborations, including multicultural mash-ups of Marling's "Devil's Spoke" and Mumford & Sons' "To Darkness."

[29] While performing in Kansas City, Missouri on 3 June, the first stop of their US tour, the band announced they had been recording a new album, initially set to be released in late 2011.

[30] Travelling exclusively in vintage rail cars, the three bands performed in six "unique outdoor locations" over the course of a week starting in Oakland, California.

[31] Ketch Secor of Old Crow told American Songwriter that "It's like we left all our baggage at home and just brought our instruments", often writing new songs while on the train.

[36] Mumford & Sons played at the Glastonbury Festival on Friday 24 June 2011, and then embarked on a North American tour on which they frequently performed songs from the upcoming album.

Heeding medical advice to aid Dwane's recovery, the band cancelled the rest of its Summer Stampede Tour, including performances at the 2013 Bonnaroo Music Festival and returned to the UK.

The Vaccines, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Vampire Weekend, Old Crow Medicine Show, Yacht Club DJs, Alabama Shakes and various other bands also performed at many of the stopovers throughout the tour.

[50] After the end of the Babel tour, Mumford and Sons took a five-month break before returning to the studio in February 2014 to start work on their third album.

[59][60] Mumford & Sons made their live return at the 375 capacity Oslo venue in Hackney, London on 10 March 2015 with an intimate show for family and friends.

[61][62][51] The second single from Wilder Mind, "The Wolf" premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 9 April 2015,[63] and was made available to download straight after, with the official audio being uploaded to the band's YouTube channel.

The release included live covers of "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails, "Blood" by the Middle East, and "With a Little Help from My Friends" by the Beatles.

[94] In March 2021, Marshall praised Andy Ngo on Twitter for his 2021 book Unmasked, which is deeply critical of the antifa movement, saying "Congratulations @MrAndyNgo.

In his published statement he rejected being labelled as far-right for his recommendation of a book critical of the far-left, saying that to call him a fascist was "ludicrous beyond belief".

He announced that he was leaving Mumford & Sons so that he could speak his mind on controversial issues without his bandmates and their families suffering the consequences.

"[106] Emmylou Harris was "among the gateway artists who helped Mumford and bandmates Ben Lovett, Ted Dwane and Winston Marshall discover their love for American roots music.

soundtrack ... That eventually led them to the Old Crow Medicine Show and then deep immersion in old-timey sounds from America's long-neglected past.

"[107]Much of Mumford & Sons' lyrical content has a strong literary influence, their debut album name deriving from a line in William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

The track "Sigh No More" includes lines from the play such as Serve God love me and mend, For man is a giddy thing, and One foot in sea and one on shore.

Both "Timshel" and "Dust Bowl Dance" draw heavily from the John Steinbeck novels Of Mice and Men, East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath.

At the end of the Babel tour Winston Marshall traded his banjo for electric guitar in sound checks and Mumford started playing more drums as the band jammed on heavy instrumentals and even some Radiohead tunes.

"[115] In 2009, the band founded Gentlemen of the Road, a live promotions company, record label and organiser of the global series of Stopover Festivals.