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
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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
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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 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