I have recently come to realize that bloggers might be one of independent music’s greatest allies. Not that we didn’t kind of already know; but really, I am not sure that we could have gotten the word out about “The Two Sides of Tim Cohen” if it wasn’t for all the help we received from music writers online. As we were preparing to release of the Joseph Childress / White White Quilt – Split (Water Tower) 7″, we came across several great blogs that feature 45’s & 7″ records exclusively.
We are fortunate enough to be currently featured on Jason Dean’s 7 Inches blog, for the Water Tower Split. You can read Jason’s review of that record here. He also invited us to do an interview for his podcast. You can access that podcast at this post. We are honored. Hopefully I did not make a fool of myself in the interview.
Speaking of Joseph Childress… He will be playing tomorrow (Sun 9/20) at Yoshi’s Songwriter’s Sunday with two others, Roberto Miguel & Mason Lindahl. Check it out if you can.
8:00pm-Midnight
1330 Fillmore at Eddy
San Francisco
$5
…and speaking of 7 Inches, the Sandwitches finished recording their acoustic 7″ e.p. for Empty Cellar Record at the Garden Chamber this week. It will be titled Duck, Duck, Goose. They will be mixing the record with engineer/producer Wymond Miles when he gets back from tour with the Fresh & Onlys. Can’t wait to hear it!
After a very long delay… the Split (Water Tower) 7″ (Empty Cellar’s founding release) featuring a track each from Joseph Childress and The White White Quilt is finally available (check out the rad video by the American Opry above). There was a mistake with the pressing – the labels were pasted to the wrong sides of the record – and then the records disappeared into some sort of vortex. They are safe now, thoroughly soaked with natural water-tower-induced reverb, and ready to spin on turntables world-wide. The labels are still pasted on the wrong side, though. It will be distributed by Revolver and is currently only available from the Endless Nest store.
This is what we have to say about it: Recorded by the American Opry while trespassing inside an abandoned three-story water tower, this record pairs haunted songs from Bay Area folk favorites – Joseph Childress and The White White Quilt. Saturated in natural reverb, these are single-take, battery-powered field recordings at their finest. Joseph Childress’s spirited performance of “Leaving the Barren Ground” is captivating and raw. The arrangement, improvised on the spot, features members of the Quilt throwing themselves against the walls of the water tower to create the cavernous sound of over-sized drums. Joseph’s sorrowful wails imbue his track with an uneasy beauty that will be familiar to fans of Jackson C. Frank, Roy Harper, and Bill Fay. The White White Quilt respond with “Papa”, a sedated slab of soulful folk reminiscent of early Cat Power records, where each quiet verse unfolds with an easy calm similar to that found on J.J. Cale and Devendra Banhart albums. Together, these acoustic tracks create a well-engineered snapshot of an unlikely venue. Recommended for fans of Will Oldam, Brightblack Morning Light, Vetiver, and Jason Molina, this 7” is pressed on clear vinyl and limited to 500 copies. Keeping with the times, each purchase comes with a download of the record plus an unreleased bonus song from the tower sessions by the White White Quilt.
Also, check out these videos of the White White Quilt & Joseph Childress by The American Opry:
The White White Quilt at the Hotel Utah, San Francisco