Stream Marah Presents Mountain Minstrelsy Of Pennsylvania

February 19, 2014 11:20 am

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The Album: Marah Presents Mountain Minstrelsy of Pennsylvania, out February 25th.
The Artist: Marah
Fun Fact: David Bielanko and Christine Smith based the album on Mountain Minstrelsy of Pennsylvania, a rare book of lyrics collected by folklorist Henry Shoemaker. They recorded it using old school technology in a church in Millheim, PA, and enlisted the neighbors, — including an eight year old fiddle prodigy named Gus — to help out.
Sounds Like: A long-lost folk record from the 1800’s that was just rediscovered.
Songwriter Says: David Bielanko says,”Releasing this album into the digital blizzard of media static that is music in 2014 is kinda hilarious, but only kinda, so to combat any icky, disposable feelings we went ahead and stuck this music onto a Vinyl LP (kinda in the same way you might bury baseball cards or locks of hair or love letters in a coffee can.) But what does that mean? It’s gonna depend on who digs it up I guess. This is a 100% analog mono record made in a church in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania between 1832 and 2013. it feels like an old quilt that’s been in our family since forever ago, it’s a tough one to let go of, I cannot lie about that…it’s got history and mystery and witches and cougars and saw blades and wedding rings and Hex signs stitched into it and now I’m being asked to march it down to the Salvation Army in a black plastic bag. So long old friend. Way to go Gus! Go Minstrelsy!”