LANDSCAPING
The cornerstone of this project is the concept of an Appalachian Desert. The vision that mining and mountaintop removal will one day transform the forests of these hills into an arid landscape not unlike those of North Africa and the American West. As a band, we are using the sounds associated with these places (the banjo, the electric guitar, modal tunings) and attempting tell the story of this possible future through music, to create a landscape in sound.
From Roscoe Holcomb and the "mountain minor" players to the berber banjoists of Marrakech, Tinariwen's tuareg guitar tradition, and the electric reverberation of Country music throughout the Sonoran desert: we are bringing these far-flung influences together to reconcile where we come from, where are, and where we're headed.
A HISTORY IN DIRT
The seed for this record came from a book I found back in 2012, upon first moving to Tucson, called "Yellow Dirt" by Judy Pasternak. It chronicles the uranium mining on the Navajo reservation from the 1930's to the 60's, the betrayal of those people by the government agencies and their own families. Always looming are the mining companies - their mark on the past and their grip on the future.
As I read this book, it resonated with me deeply, not because I was oblivious to history, but because it all sounded very familiar.
I didn't grow up in coal country, but we were close enough to know about it, to have friends whose fathers had worked in the mines or families that had moved to town because they couldn't breathe the air back home. I heard about schools being shut down because children were getting sick from drinking the water, water that was shared with refineries built illegally close to the schools.
Having relocated to southern Arizona, I saw remnants of the copper industry everywhere. In a land where water is already a precious element, springs and wells were going dry as the water-table was drained for the slurries.
This was when the vision began to take shape for me, in this one tragic similarity between lands. In the years since, as I worked on other projects, this one stayed with me. It has slowly coalesced until now, when I felt ready to tell its story.
WORK HARD, PLAY HARD
In addition to the core band, I am are honored have a group of collaborators whose music I deeply admire: pedal steel legend Susan Alcorn, singer and fiddler Jolie Holland, multi-instrumentalist and visual artist Arrington de Dionyso... these are just a few of the heavy-hitters that have signed on to join us in this project.
Along with the official finished album, I am offering a unique array of rewards for the generous folks who pledge their support: one-of-a-kind musical artifacts, hand-made by yours truly from recycled wood and other materials. Customized songs and recordings, wild sound installations and personal performances, medicinal salves crafted from local desert plants, even a limited edition bandana (because everyone's gotta blow their nose or dry their hands sometime)!
We will be recording in different locations throughout the country, from studios in Oregon to stone caves in New Mexico, experimenting with different approaches to capturing and reproducing sound. We'll be following whatever paths we find in order to bring this story to life: a story that we hope will reach people with a perspective on our future - a landscape where we all must live.
Risks and challenges
Our biggest obstacle in the pursuit of this project is time - the time it takes to try out new ideas, to explore and discover. We've made records in the past that were more documentary in their approach: just going into the studio and performing the songs live with the band, using minimal personnel and few takes. For this one, we want to make a more cinematic feature. This puts us in uncharted territory, but one that we are excited and determined to traverse.
So, it takes time - from the musicians who have families and day jobs, to the engineers who own and operate the equipment, we've got a solid crew together and we have to make sure they are paid fair wages for their time.
We are doing all of this completely DIY, with no support from a record label or manager. This is why our community is so crucial - we wouldn't be able to do any of this without you!
Here's the full, unedited OHIOAN campaign video:
