Town and Country

quot;One of the hardest-working, most bone-shaking, original bands on the American roots music circuit.quot; - Jeff Biggers, The Huntington Post If your last album had critics describing your group as quot;The Last Waltz come back to life as one unified bandquot; (Mike Breen, CityBeat) and calling the album quot;a master class in Americanaquot; (David Kronke, L.A. Critic) and quot;an album that exhibits how great American roots music can bequot; (Donny Kutzbach, ArtVoice), what do you do for an encore? If you're Cincinnati's roots/Americana powerhouse Magnolia Mountain, the answer is simple. You write even better songs. You bring even better players and singers on board. You release an album that raises the bar even higher. You release an album like 'Town and Country'. As the title suggests, 'Town and Country' showcases Magnolia Mountain's deft mastery of American musical styles and casts that stylistic net wider than ever before. From the opening old-timey Appalachian vibe of quot;Black Molliequot;, through the bittersweet Americana lament quot;One Waking Momentquot;, the Dwight Yoakam-style swagger of quot;Baby, Let's Pretendquot;, the driving hard rock of quot;Set on Firequot;, to the Stax/Volt R&B-infused workout quot;Rainmakerquot;, 'Town and Country' bolts out of the gate with a whirlwind array of American music styles. 'Town and Country' is full of Magnolia Mountain singer and songwriter Mark Utley's finest collection of songs to date, an 18-song double album of remarkable range. The band's signature interplay of acoustic and electric instruments is on full display on the new album, even moreso with the addition of talented newcomers Jeff Vanover (guitar), Todd Drake (drums) and Kathy Woods (fiddle) to the formidable lineup of Bob Lese on mandolin, folk harmonica, and blues harp, Utley on acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and banjo, and upright bassist Bob Donisi. Magnolia Mountain's trademark blend of gorgeous 2-, 3-, and 4-part close harmony vocals is made even richer with the addition of Renee Frye, who now joins founding member Melissa English on harmony vocals. In addition, the band is joined on this album by a veritable who's who of Cincinnati roots musicians, including Ricky Nye (piano/organ) David Rhodes Brown (lap steel/slide guitar), Brian Hogg (sax), Mike Oberst (banjo), and more. 'Town and Country' reflects Magnolia Mountain's quot;big tentquot; approach to Americana music with songs like the Byrds-meets-bluegrass quot;All My Numbered Daysquot;, the mountain flavor of quot;The Old Waysquot;, the country-punk scorcher quot;Shotgun Divorcequot; (a duet with Bloodshot Records artist Lydia Loveless), the gospel rave-up quot;Train to Gloryquot;, the menacing, dark gothic country of quot;The Devil We Knowquot;, the slow R&B burn and epic sweep of the heartbreaking quot;Cry for Mequot;, through to the intricately layered harmonies of the album finale quot;A Light to Bring You Homequot;. Included are haunting covers of quot;Don't Leave Just Nowquot; by Cincy indie-rock giants Wussy, and quot;Just to Know What You've Been Dreamingquot; by Will Johnson of Centro-matic. Also featured is quot;The Hand of Manquot;, the band's contribution to 2011's anti-mountaintop-removal-coal-mining complilation, 'Music for the Mountains'. This album is the band's third with producer John Curley (Afghan Whigs) at Ultrasuede Studio in Cincinnati. Also back from the first two albums are the stunning album cover photos of world-renowned photographer Michael Wilson. Town and Country will be released on two formats (CD and vinyl double album).