I knew Austin Tally from when he played in another band that I recorded a few years ago. They were pretty folksy. When I heard he was in a new band I instantly wanted to get in touch and see what they were about. He send over a cassette. It was pretty jangly and weird. I dug it. But it wasn’t until they came in for the microshow last month I truly understood what was going on. There are serious pop hooks going on underneath all the thick yet detailed sludge of guitars. I keep hearing early 90s Dinosaur Jr. & Smashing Pumpkins with out all the drama, bombast and crazy tempos. There’s room to take a breath. And there is an articulation to the songwriting one can totally sink their teeth in to.

Wing Dam is Austin (Soft Cat, Omoo Omoo, Silent Whys) on vocals and guitars, Sara Autrey (Dan Deacon, Bitch Cave, Which Magic), who plays bass and sings and other various sundries in an amalgum of other bands is amazing talented and a super swell person and Abram Sanders (Lower Dens, The Snails) is their drummer and does just that. He’s an incredible drummer with a great sense of time and focus and at the end of the day can still be heard over Austin and Sara’s bombast of destruction.

Please enjoy this microshow like I have been for the past month.

Abram Sanders – drums
Sara Autrey – bass guitar / vocals
Austin Tally – guitar / vocals

Engineered by Sean Mercer
Mixed by Mat Leffler-Schulman

Download MP3s - 76 MB

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After the release of 2010′s Wildspace (Friends Records), a darkened, dreamy collection of songs inspired by the thriving wilderness located in urban settings, Neil Sanzgiri took a year away from music to finish up his fine arts degree in Interdisciplinary Sculpture. What started as bedroom a recording project grew into a baroque ensemble consisting of horns, flutes, cello, violin, banjo, classical and electric guitar. For the majority of Soft Cat’s early existence it was rare to see them perform anything but acoustic, playing anywhere from farms and backyards to living rooms and art galleries.

In February of 2013, Soft Cat returns with Lost No Labor, an EP that marks a step forward in Soft Cat’s sound pushing the delicateness of arrangements and the richness of tones to a much more mature level. With the live formation constantly rotating from members traveling inbetween cities, Soft Cat at its core has become Neil Sanzgiri, Kate Barutha and Brendan Sullivan and features members of other Baltimore bands such as Secret Mountains, Strange Fur, Wing Dam, and Weekends. Lost No Labor attests to the band’s scale and warmth and marks and shows a steady progression towards a new full length.

Their microshow is no exception. They came together last month to play a breathtaking and moving show for all of Baltimore to hear. Neil is a serious songwriter here in Baltimore and we can’t wait to see what else he has to offer.

Neil Sanzgiri – vocals, acoustic guitar
Brendan Sullivan – electric guitar, drums
Kate Barutha – cello, vocals
Evan Merkel – violin
Austin Tally – bass

Download MP3s - 84.65 MB

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Danny Kamps – guitar
Austin Tally – guitar
Max Muffler – Drums

Download MP3s - 122.84 MB

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Austin Tally and Amanda Glasser who are better known together as Silent Whys were in the studio last year with Alex and me. Both are multi-instrumentalists, playing guitar, dulcimer, accordion, lap steel, dobro, banjo, mandolin, organ and drums. And sometimes at the same time when performed live. They play a diverse mix of music ranging from artsy-folk to gospel to avant.

I had the great opportunity to work with them for the better half of last year on their debut album. It came together wonderfully. Austin and Amanda took what they were doing very seriously and it shows in their record. It’s the perfect Friday evening dinner listen or great on a winter’s morning enjoying a great cup of tea.

The record has just been released on Lovasaurus Records and can be purchased here.

Waltz For October

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Lay Me Down

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