Pistop: Mandolin Orange

I may have only seen them live twice but one of the things I've come to except from a Bowerbirds concert is a talented opener. Enter  North Carolina duo Mandolin Orange the night's more unexpectedly pleasant surprise. I arrived at the Bowerbirds most recent New York stop expecting solely one opener in the form of Dry the River whose music I had already been exposed to and knew I liked so you can imagine my surprise when Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz took to the stage with guitar, fiddle, and friend Josh Oliver in tow.



What followed was a thoroughly enjoyable set of folksy, rootsy Americana - the band's self-described country pop. The kind that's welcome even to those like me who prefer to stay as far away from country music as feasibly possible. It's hard to say what exactly sets Mandolin Orange apart for the tons of other folk acts gunning for you attention, perhaps it's that they aren't. The duo have a rather laidback style of songwriting that still manages to highlight their remarkable talents, heart-stirring lyricism, and intoxicating harmonies. There's also the fact that the vast majority of instruments you'll hear from them on their records or see at their live set are played by the twosome themselves (there's guests enlisted to fill out the rest).



Mandolin Orange play a sort of updated Appalachian-infused folk that really doesn't get nearly enough play. Which is sort of a shame. The duo are as equally at home playing traditional folk tunes as they are playing their own traditional-leaning originals and the young band already have two albums under their belt 2010's Quiet Little Room and a double album Haste Make/Hard-Hearted Stranger released late last year. And Mandolin Orange show no signs of stopping any time soon; a fact I certainly couldn't be more pleased with that as the duo's darkly themed but never depressing brand of accessible country pop hits all the right spots.



You can listen to their most recent album over on Spotify as well as check out their upcoming tour dates on their Website here.

Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues (2010)

I was introduced to Justin Townes Earle last year at possibly the worst time for him: Right in the midst of his personal struggle as he cancelled a tour to go to rehab. Normally things like that would ward listeners off but I was intrigued and even more so when I discovered he wrote a "country" album about New York City. It's certainly not your typical fodder for anything vaguely resembling folk music and yet that's exactly what Earle sets out to do so on Harlem River Blues.

It's easy to peg the Nashville bred Earle as a country singer who seems way out of his element singing about a city with virtually nothing country about it. And yet, Earle isn't really a country singer. Sure he has the sort of Southern drawl and twangy guitar that comes naturally to most of them but what Earle's has that others don't is an inventiveness that keeps his music from sounding like what you'd typically find in the genre. No, Earle's music is a combination of bluegrass and folksy Americana with the sensibility and engaging nature of Indie rock. It's why he can get away with convincingly spinning tales about a city that's as far away from as country as can be like the work song "Working for the MTA".

With Harlem River Blues, Justin Townes Earle proves that you can work wonders if given the proper inspiration. The album is fresh and innovative and yet familiar. Earle could be singing about anywhere but just happens to be singing about New York City. There's not a whole lot of you have to know about the city in order to get the album or understand what he's singing about. Rather he uses the city as focus for his tales of love lost, defeat, and possible redemption.

Punch Brothers - Antifogmatic

My discovery of Punch Brothers was one of those happy little accidents that occurred when browsing through Rolling Stone to see if anything interesting was mentioned. It was in fact: There was an article mentioning Punch Brothers and their habit to perform covers from all sorts of bands like The Carter Family, Radiohead, The Strokes, even some Mozart and Bach. Well that peaked my interest as to how a so-called bluegrass band would do all these covers. A few minutes later I was sampling their CD and really liked what I heard. Punch Brothers' Antifogmatic might be one of the most epic albums I've listened to in quite some time, if not my whole life. Why's this? Well sure they have this bluegrass instrumental assortment of mandolin, guitar, double bass, banjo, and fiddle but it's how they use them that really captivates you. Each instrument has its place in adding to the overall feel of the song: whether its the chops and glissando of the fiddle in "You Are". "Don't Need No" features fiddle player Gabe Witcher on lead vocals and describes the structure in the first verse: "Don't need no chorus, cash, or candy now". Instead, the chorus-less song is mostly instrumental featuring flashy virtuosic displays from each band member within its 4 minute time frame. You'd never guess the song is merely about having a friend who happens to be a bartender because the song is just too interesting for something so mundane. "Rye Whiskey" with its group shout vocals, lyrics about the strong influence of alcohol, and swaggering sounds like your typical bluegrass fare and yet something about it is different.

The album is jam-packed with all these great musical moments and gives the impression that it's more about conveying the feeling of the song than adhering to any strict style which why it sometimes diverts from hoe-down party bluegrass ("Me and Us" being the prime example). The album does a wonderful job of providing an eclectic blend of songs whether its the good-times party type ("Don't Need No"), ballads ("Alex" "Missy"), adventurous epics ("Woman and the Bell"), and everything in between. Its an album for everyone, even if bluegrass isn't particularly your thing. Give Punch Brothers an listen in this live video of album opener "You Are":