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
[See post to listen to audio]

Lay Me Down
[See post to listen to audio]

I had the great pleasure of working with The Manly Deeds on their debut album last spring. The music they play is not that of our time. And it’s remarkably no less. They create a sense of nostalgia without being a novelty. They simply write and perform great music. It just happens to be with traditional folk instruments and sometimes blazingly fast tempos. That and a suitcase drum and many of beards to go around.

The record was recorded entirely live at the Hampden Baptist Church here in Baltimore on a brisk Saturday last March. The recording was amazing. The church (built in 1874) has a vibe. Not to mention some of the best natural reverb this city has to offer. It’s uncanny and you’ll hear it all over the record. Nothing artificial was added in the mix. Speaking of which, Alex masterfully mixed this record and you can sample two of my favorite songs from the album below. Oh the guests are a-plenty. Dave Hadley on pedal steel guitar, Cameron Blake on fiddle and Ruby Fulton on acordian. The record will be available at the CD release show November 23 at Joe². And you can preorder it here.

Hard Times For The Animal Kingdom
[See post to listen to audio]

Blacken The Sky
[See post to listen to audio]

I recently had the pleasure of working with Ken Kolodner and Brad Kolodner. Otter Creek meshes the musical talents of father and son, the former being a world-renowned player of hammered dulcimer, hammered mbira, and fiddle and the latter introducing his talents with the clawhammer banjo and banjola. This first recording for the duo blends original and traditional Appalachian music performed in a musical, dynamic, and transparent aesthetic with little use of backing instruments. Ken’s played with Helicon (along with Chris Norman and Robin Bullock) for years, not to mention has put out over a half dozen albums with Dorian Records.

Other notable guests on the record are Elke Baker on fiddle and Paul Oorts on acoustic guitar.

Below are my two favorite tracks from the record.

Bradley’s Tune
[See post to listen to audio]

Liza Jane/Sandy Boys/ Hangman’s Reel
[See post to listen to audio]

The Manly Deeds came in a week or so ago for their microshow. It was a seriously fun hootenanny! Complete with banjo, acoustic guitar, mandolin, upright bass and three-part harmonies.

Technical info: Vocal mics: U87 (Adam – Center) – AT 3060 (Brad Left-ish) – C3 (Jason Right-ish), Banjo: Oktava 012, Acoustic Guitar: SM81, Mandolin: SM81, Upright bass: Apex 460 Tube, Suitcase drums: SM7 on top, Beta52 on rear, AT Boundary for room.

Download MP3s - 77.91 MB

Last Thursday, Secret Mountains stopped in for a microshow. We first heard them when they shared a stage with Kadman and Cotton Jones a few months back and we’d been looking forward to their visit to Mobtown for quite a while. Somehow they fit 5 of their 6 members on to our 6′x10′ faux stage. They stripped down their usual show, re-arranged their songs and pulled together a breathtaking set of old and new originals and wonderfully selected covers.

Kelly seduced the crowd with her haunting voice. Chris held everything together playing impeccably on a small Gretch kit complete with shakers and other various toys. Jake played the MicroKorg, banjo and concertina. Cory played what I call the “crying guitar” as well as bass on one track. And Jeff drew us in with his contrastingly dark guitar playing.

Technical info:
Kelly’s vocals: Neumann U87, Room mics: AT PZMs, Keys: MXL990, Concertina/Banjo: Sennheiser 441, Guitars: Cascade Fathead Ribbon.

Download MP3s - 54.75 MB

It’s taken me a few days to digest last week’s microshow with Yeveto. Despite Amy’s “bregnancy prain”, Russell’s 64k memory and Ben’s proposed digital drum kit, Yeveto put on a stellar show. Spinal Tap was known for their “punctuality” – Yeveto should be known for being the most well-rehearsed. And in the best way possible, between arrangement, setup and performance. I can’t thank them enough for being such a well-oiled machine. Oh and playing incredibly moving instrumental experimental film music! Thanks!

Technical info: Cello DI: REDDI, Cello amp: 421, Guitar amp: Fathead Ribbon, Banjo: Sennheiser 441, Moog & Korg synth: Alto DI, Snare: C3, Floor Tom: 421, Drum Overheads: Shure SM81

Download MP3s - 64.62 MB

Wow. What a religious experience. The performance by Ms. Sara & The Help absolutely filled the room. Everyone in the room was simply swimming in their music and loving it. Literally, at one point, we were trying to figure out who in the audience was singing back-ups because the vocals just seemed to come from everywhere.

The Help was John Caplan on acoustic and resonator guitar and Jay on acoustic guitar and banjo. The guys also sang harmonies. There’s really not much else that can be said. You have to hear it for yourself. What a wonderful night of sick vocals, harmonies, stringed instruments galore, virtually all new songs and a few covers of fellow Baltimore artists.

Technical info: Ms. Sara vocals: Sennheisser 421, Jay’s acoustic guitar and banjo: SM81/Fathead ribbon, John’s acoustic guitar and resonator guitar: SM81/Fathead ribbon, Jay and John’s vocals: Sennheisser 421, Room mics: AT871R boundary.

Download MP3s - 79.28 MB

Last week, we hosted Austin Stahl for our monthly microshow. He brought new and moving interpretations from his latest solo record, The Things You Carry, and pulled some songs from the vault, including covers of Private Eleanor, Hank Williams, Small Sur and Bruce Springsteen. It was a warm and intimate night and so still as we held our breath listening to each heart-rending verse.

Tech stuff: U87 on vox. Shure SM81 and SP C3 on the acoustic/banjo. The acoustic also was DI’d through a RedDI by A Designs (Thanks Frank!) on a few tracks. The electric mandolin was mic’d using a SM57 on a Fender Champ.

Download MP3s - 77.67 MB

Our friends, Kadman, came by the studio last week for a fabulous microshow and they gave us some really moving interpretations of their songs. They did two sets, the first being songs from their first record. And the second set came from their upcoming record I’ll be producing here at Mobtown.

We really enjoyed what Kadman brought to their performance, including completely different arrangements and instruments such as banjo, upright bass and harmonica, three instruments that didn’t even appear on their record. Ringleader Dave Manchester’s intense vocals filled the room and carried the emotions of the slow-core tunes. Way to go with the spirit of the micro-show!

Dave was joined by James Bahleda on upright and Frank Corl on drums who will both be on the upcoming record.

Tech stuff: U87 on vocals, Sennheisser 509 on guitar, Oktava 012 up the bridge of the upright and C3 spot mic, Floor tom got a 421, the snare got a SM57 and the overheads were SM81s.

Download MP3s - 99.14 MB