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

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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.

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