Andrew Marlin & Emily Frantz started performing together in 2009 in coffee shops and restaurants of Chapel Hill and other NC towns under the name Mandolin Orange. They now have their 2nd album under the Watchhouse name, and an extensive tour of North America that comes back to us over Labor Day weekend for the Earl Scruggs Music Festival. They are certainly a grassroots success story that’s been driven by Marlin’s poignant songwriting, that has earned them a reputation for creating music that “redefines roots music for a younger generation” (Washington Post), with songs that touch on the unknowable mysteries, existential heartbreak, and communal joys of modern life. Accompanying the couple here are Josh Oliver on guitars and banjo, Clint Mullican on bass, Ryan Gustafson on guitars, bass, harmonica, and piano, Jamie Dick on drums and percussion, Nat Smith on piano, mellotron, cello, effects, and Matt Smith on pedal steel. The album comes out on May 30th.
Tuesday: Watchhouse – Rituals
