This Old Town

Description

On the morning of March 23, 2013, we jumped in the band van, affectionately titled Aunt Darlene, and cruised north to one of our favorite northern Whisko towns, Minocqua. On the way, our good buddy Dustin called and told us to swing into the Minocqua Brewing Company and snag a keg of Minocqua Pale Ale. Fueled by the delicious brew and our heads full of tunes, we met up with our co-producer and sound engineer Mark Richardson at his studio on the beautiful Squirrell Lake. We showed up, filled our glasses, and played our kind of old-timey folk music for five days. If we stopped, it was to go grab some grub n' drinks at the Black Bear Bar up the road or get some quick shut eye. Thankfully, Mark dealt with our freight-train mentality and general shenanigans real well and we had a great time with him in the studio. Our good friends Dustin and Salena welcomed us into their beautiful country home while we were recording. Six-year old Evan, a likely future picker extraordinaire, was kind enough to let us take over his room. We had hilarious moonshine midnights and peaceful mornings, always culminating with a breakfast field-trip to the Black Bear and subsequent days 'work', if you can call it that. We had a ton of fun in the studio...ideas and good vibes were flowing as smoothly as the brew we drank. These songs mean a lot to us, they tell stories we've come to know over our time growing up in Wisconsin. We were feeling it in the studio, and we hope the heart and soul we shot towards each other and into the microphones resonates strait out of the speakers and into your ears, maybe even shaking you a little deep down inside. Come with us...jump on a river raft, flow down the St. Croix a-ways, and make a portage over to the Wisconsin River backwaters. Hit a couple river towns along the way and be sure to get yourself into at least some kinda trouble. If nothing else, find yourself a good fish fry and barley pop, or maybe chat it up with an old-timer fisherman or a pretty gal. Try not to fall too far in love, but if it happens it happens. We could not be more thankful for all of your support through the years and the making of this record. We started playing tunes together three years ago (late spring 2010) and we've since been completely blown away by the kindness of folks all over the place. So many people to thank, you all know who you are. From letting us crash at your place, to hooking us up with old records, to good stories and great laughs, to listening to our songs in a crowded bar when no one else was listening, and everything in between, including helping us fund this thing. We thank you all so dearly. We love what we're up to and a big part of that is the folks we meet along the way. In the words of John Denver, 'Music does bring people together. It allows us to experience the same emotions. People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit. No matter what language we speak, what color we are, the form of our politics or the expression of our love and our faith, music proves: We are the same.' Special thanks to our families. We're blessed to play music for all of you and there is no way that could have been possible without the love and support of our parents and siblings. They're our biggest fans and that feels pretty damn good. Also, to our dearest friends everywhere, thanks for taking this wild ride with us, through thick n' thin, through the laughter and through the troubled times. There's many more good times to come, many good friends we don't know yet, and magnitudes of tunes to pick. Thanks for doing this with us...three years have passed and we're still having a damn good time. We hope the same goes for you. Cheers, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades May 3, 2013.