One Song, One Day: In the Studio with Matthew Perryman Jones

For those of you who haven't heard of Matthew Perryman Jones, you’ve certainly heard his music somewhere - whether it was on television, in a film, or, like I initially heard him, touring with Ten Out of Tennessee, a collective of some of the best emerging songwriters from Nashville, TN.

It's long been a dream of mine to record in Nashville, so when I saw an opportunity to have Matthew produce a song from my upcoming album, there was no way I could pass it up. This weekend, I'll be heading down to Music City to record my first single with Matthew alongside a lineup of incredible local musicians.

Here's the catch: we only have one day to do it.

I'll be documenting as much as possible throughout the day, so make sure to "like" my Facebook page for updates, outtakes (well, and probably a few mistakes).

"Around the Bend" featured on The Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch

"Around the Bend," a song from my second EP (Stranger Land, 2007) will be featured on episode 7 of The Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch, which airs on Tuesday May 24th at 9pm EST. For anyone who hasn't seen the show before, it chronicles the real-life stories of five king crabbing boats during the fall and winter fishing seasons on Alaska's Bering Straight. As a huge fan of the show myself, along with 10 million others (!) who tune in each week, I couldn't be more excited. Download the song for free here.



Self-titled EP Now Available For FREE

Cambridge Based Indie Folk Band Makes Its Recorded Debut

Six piece indie-folk music project, Magnolia, will be releasing their self-titled EP for FREE through Folkus Records. Led by singer-songwriter Dan Kaplan and longtime friend and guitarist Judson Abts, Magnolia has gone through several incarnations—taking twists and turns along the way. Starting out as a traditional folk, alt-country infused Americana band, Magnolia has finally settled on a sound that is all their own - the spot on harmony between Kaplan and vocalist Eleanor Halgren floating alongside Abts' soaring electric guitar parts and drummer Ken MacLeod's rhythmic foundation. Dan has described it as "more like what I've always wanted a band to sound like - taking pieces of all of our influences and ideas, and stitching them together in our own way to make something new, but still sound familiar - something that you can't quite place...In any one song that we've written, I can hear so many different things going on."

Garnering comparisons to everyone from the anthematic rock of Coldplay to the indie pop of breakout bands like Phoenix, Magnolia indeed wears many hats. Kaplan has remarked, "I’ve always been drawn to the idea of not being constrained by any preconceived ideas of what music has to be. The goal has always been to figure out how to break the patterns that are so easy [for me] to fall into - to constantly challenge myself to write better melodies, better songs". And with an extensive back catalogue already, including over 250 songs and a plan to release a full length album later this year, it’s clear that they're just getting started.

The EP was recorded at Wonka Sound just outside of Boston, and includes a more traditional arrangement of instrumentation along with violin and some other surpises along the way including a glockenspiel, full-sized orchestral timpanis, and even a toy piano.

The project is an ever evolving one, and has played in several states throughout its existence - sometimes in an all acoustic form with backing vocals and violin, sometimes as a hard hitting band with drums, bass and piano. Whatever form they take on, Magnolia has been playing at venues throughout Boston, getting some steady press buzz and a growing local draw.

The EP will be self-released and available for free on the Magnolia website. Download it here.

1. I Wanna Know
2. Empty
3. It's Not Over (Til I Say It Is)

Full length album coming soon

Tomorrow we'll be heading back into Wonka Sound in Lowell, MA to begin work on our full length album, a project that we've been planning for quite awhile now. We'll be recording songs that we've been playing out for the past few months or so, and a handful of brand new ones that we've been working on. I'm expecting it'll be finished sometime in the next few months, but then again, I think I always say that before starting a new project. So, we'll see what happens and just play it by ear. Either way, I'm SO excited to jump in ang get started. We'll be posting updates periodically, so stay tuned!

UNregular Radio Broadcast Tuesday, January 4th

We just confirmed our first radio spot on UNregular radio, a local internet station broadcast out of downtown Boston. On Tuesday, January 4th around 1:00 pm, we'll be doing a live in-studio acoustic performance of 2 songs from our upcoming EP. Learn more about it here. In the meantime, though, I hope everyone has a great New Year and makes it to the other side in one piece! Unlike other New Year's celebrations, I'll be heading up to Portland, ME to hopefully wake up without a hangover.