Tag: Grain Thief

LISTEN: Grain Thief, “Tangled up in Blue” (Live)

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Grain Thief
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Tangled up in Blue”
Album: Ain’t Hungover Yet
Release Date: November 19, 2022
Label: Plow Man Records

In Their Words: “‘Tangled up in Blue’ has become one of our favorite songs to play live. Fast, very fun to sing, and everybody loves this song! I never made any attempt to learn the lyrics; I just realized one day (after having listened to every known version of the song for years) that I knew all the words. If you can manage to remember an opus like ‘Tangled,’ you are pretty much duty bound to play it. On this particular day at Podunk Bluegrass Festival it was about a thousand degrees Fahrenheit during our first set, which may explain some of the vocal outbursts caught on this recording.” — Patrick Mulroy, Grain Thief

GrainThief · Tangled Up In Blue

Photo Credit: Matt Gardner

WATCH: Grain Thief, “Chirps and Williams”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Grain Thief
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Chirps and Williams”
Album: Something Sour, Something Sweet
Release Date: October 29, 2021
Label: Plow Man Records

In Their Words: “‘Chirps and Williams’ is a tune by the great Métis fiddler Calvin Vollrath. It was a tune that our friends would call now and then at some of the jams we frequent in Boston, and it quickly became a favorite of ours because of its distinctly catchy melody and chord progression. It worked its way into our live set years ago and it’s been a regular ever since. For the fiddler it’s a particularly fun tune to play, because despite its rapid stream of eighth notes it all falls under the hand very naturally — a testament to Vollrath’s skill as an instrumentalist and tunesmith.” — Alex Barstow, Fiddle, Grain Thief

Photo credit: Joel McFadzen

LISTEN: Grain Thief, “Pedal Down”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Grain Thief
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Pedal Down”
Release Date: January 17, 2020

In Their Words: “There is no substitute for a group of musicians standing together in a room, facing each other, and feeling each other’s playing. It’s how we rehearse, how we jam, how we play in picking circles, and how we experience music authentically. Often, in modern recording we separate musicians in order to pursue that ‘perfect take’ — but you sacrifice the magic. In building this tune and thinking about our next record, we decided we care more about that magic.” — Mike Harmon

Photo credit: Andy Gagne Photography