After a decade of building a loyal following and playing some of the biggest stages in the U.S. including Red Rocks, Montana’s Kitchen Dwellers are back with their new album Muir Maid, out November 8th. The group has come fully into their own, seamlessly blending the past, present, and future of string band music to create their most daring and collaborative work yet.
“This is the first record with all four of us contributing to the writing together,” says guitarist Max Davies, “and the songs really reflect that. You can hear each of our different backgrounds and influences in the music, and you can also hear how much we’ve grown in the last few years, both as individuals and as a band.”
While much of that growth can be traced to the group’s relentless tour schedule, they’re also quick to credit the influence of The Infamous Stringdusters’ Chris Pandolfi, who produced ‘Muir Maid’ and helped the band reach new heights in the studio and beyond.
“We call it The Panda Effect,” says banjo player Torrin Daniels. “Just by hanging out with a musician like Chris, you absorb what he says and how he approaches songs, and all of the sudden you’re a better musician for it.”
Muir Maid follows Kitchen Dwellers’ acclaimed 2017 LP, Ghost In The Bottle, which was produced by Leftover Salmon’s Andy Thorn and featured a slew of special guests, including Little Feat’s Bill Payne and Greensky Bluegrass’s Anders Beck.
While those wide-ranging influences might not sound like typical fodder for a bluegrass outfit, they’re essential to Kitchen Dwellers’ eclectic identity. Mandolinist Shawn Swain grew up listening to and performing traditional roots music in Colorado, but his bandmates all come from decidedly different backgrounds: Funk studied classical and jazz as a youngster and cites Metallica among his biggest influences; Daniels spent his youth playing drums and listening to punk and metal before he ever picked up a banjo; and Davies found himself drawn to the intersection of rock and jazz, only stumbling upon bluegrass in middle school when he saw Bela Fleck perform live.
“The band came along at a pivotal time for each of us,” says Daniels. “Our tastes were changing and we were discovering all kinds of new stuff. Even before we started performing together, we were all going to tons of shows and becoming part of this tight knit musical community out here.”
When it came time to cut the new album, Kitchen Dwellers decided to tap into the intoxicating energy of their concerts and record everything live for the first time. They began by holing up in a New Hampshire cabin for a few days of preproduction, working out every detail of the performances and arrangements in advance, and then they headed west to Denver, where they captured the album raw and fast under Pandolfi’s deft direction.
Glide is thrilled to premiere “Broken Cage” – a vibrant and colorful composition that places Kitchen Dwellers alongside live stalwarts Railroad Earth and Billy Strings, as potent songwriting meets musical maestros.
“I wrote this song mainly about the challenges and parallels we face living our lives out on the road,” says Daniels. “Sometimes as a musician you’re away on tour while very real things are happening at home, and it can be a hard thing to deal with. It’s also partially told from the perspective of a cowboy out on a cattle drive. I was brought up in a family of farmers and ranchers listening to a lot of cowboy music, and I like to pay tribute to that western heritage.”
The single will be out on digital streaming services tomorrow, Friday, October 12th, and fans can pre-save the song on Spotify.
Tour Dates
10/10 & 10/11 – Denver, CO – Cervantes’ Other Side
10/12 – Fort Collins, CO – Hodi’s Half Note
10/13 – Eureka Springs, AR – The Hillberry Harvest Moon Festival
10/18 – Whitefish, MT – Great Northern Bar
10/19 – Missoula, MT – Top Hat Lounge
10/31 – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre Of The Living Arts *
11/1 – Charlottesville, VA – The Jefferson Theater *
11/2 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage *
11/7 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel *
11/8 – Charlotte, NC – Neighborhood Theatre *
11/9 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle *
12/4 – Appleton, WI – Gibson Music Hall
12/5 – Minneapolis, MN – The Hook & Ladder Theater
12/6 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre
12/7 – Chicago IL – Martyrs’
12/8 – Ferndale MI – The Parliament Room at Otus Supply
12/11 – Cincinnati, OH – Top Cats
12/12 – St. Louis, MO – The Bootleg @ Atomic Cowboy
12/13 – Columbia, MO – Rose Music Hall
12/14 – Kansas City, MO – The Riot Room
12/15 – Des Moines, IA – Vauderville Mews
1/31 – 2/2 – Tucson, AZ – Gem and Jam Festival
3/27 – 3/29 – Squaw Valley, CA – WinterWonderGrass
4/10 – 4/11 – Stratton, VT – WonderGrass Presents: Sugar & Strings
