I’ve been a fan of Small Sur for quite a while and have been asking Bob to do a microshow for almost 2 years now! We were grateful they were able to do one with us last month. It was a really beautiful night, full of amazing musicianship, wonderfully crafted songs and really nice people. Everything came together perfectly and it’s here now for you to take a peak in to their microshow. Hope you enjoy!

Bob Keal: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Austin Stahl: Drums, Vocals
Andy Abelow: Keyboards, Vocals, Alto Sax
Paul Kusner: Bass
Emily Hilliard: Violin

Engineered by Austin Stahl
Mixed by Mat Leffler-Schulman

Technical info: Bob’s vocals: Shure SM7, Acoustic: SM81, Kick: RE20, Snare: Fathead Ribbon, Overhead: Sputnik, Austin’s Vocals, AKG 414, Violin: AKG 414, Andy’s Vocals: SM81, Bass: 421

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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

Lay Me Down

Frederick-based music group Holy MTN just finished up a fresh new single here at Mobtown Studios with Paul. These gentlemen are bringing a solid sound to the table, blending eccentric and melodic vocals with an extremely tight rhythm section and creative guitars and keys. Put a MicroKorg-triggered talkbox on top of that, and you’ve got a highly enjoyable song on your hands! We even broke out our ’74 Fender Rhodes on this track for some electro-mechanical sweetness.

Holy MTN will be heading in to the studio again soon to start work on an EP, so be on the look out! Keep up to date with their shows and news on their Bandcamp site, and enjoy the single Next Time:

I had the great pleasure of producing The Water’s debut album Scandals and Animals this past spring. The Water are better known to us as Dan and James. Dan plays all the drums, loops and guitar and James plays the guitars and synths.

This record was a long time coming. These guys have grown tremendously since the first time I saw them at The Metro Gallery 3 years ago. In making Scandals and Animals, we used quite a bit of gorgeous vintage The Water, but a lot of new territory was charted as well. This isn’t simply a regurgitation of their live show in a studio. There was discussion of using an acoustic guitar on the record. There’s a pretty Beach Boy bass on a few tracks. It’s epic, dynamic, full of lyricless emotion and all while layering on piles of loops and beautiful melodies and polyrhythms crescendoing to an enormous dénouement .

The Water’s music speaks for itself. It’s not a record you can listen to in pieces. It’s a full-length record in its purest sense. Sit back, relax and listen from start to finish without interruption.

You can preorder the record here from Baltimore’s own Scenic Route Records and you can listen to my favorite tracks below:

Handsome Homeless

DeSelby

Future Nails

Das Binky is the moniker of mulit-instrumentalist John Argentiero of Madison, WI (by way of Hoboken, NJ by way of Washington, DC). John has been making music for over 20 years, leaving his ego at the door. He listens to a sickeningly wide range of music. And it’s clear from the music he creates. One can’t pigeonhole what John does. It’s what keeps you wanting to come back for more.

I had the pleasure of mixing a song on his upcoming LP. This song was co-written by John Flansburgh and John Linnell from They Might Be Giants and it’s definitely my favorite cut.

Up My Dosage

I had the pleasure of working with The Little Creatures this summer in mastering their record. The Little Creatures are Ian Potts & Dave Nenner. These guys certainly defy traditional genres. They pull from the avant baroque, psychedelic pop and lo-fi indie rock. Whatever they are doing is definitely something to keep an eye out for. Enjoy this track I love from the record. You can also download the whole record here.

Paradigm A Dozen