#todd umhoefer

[vsmallflames]

Old Earth - Milwaukee To Edinburgh, 2013

We’re big fans of Old Earth, aka Todd Umhoefer, having written about his music on several occasions (and even spoken to the man himself). His last two releases, Small Hours and All Kill, were put out by Edinburgh-based label mini50 records (who we are also big fans of). It was for this reason that, last year, Umhoefer embarked on a trans-Atlantic tour, funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign.

The product of the tour was a tour album, entitled Milwaukee To Edinburgh, 2013, comprised of recordings made at various venues that Umhoefer visited whilst in Scotland. The tracks range from recordings from shows (e.g. ‘Less Words’ at Henry’s Cellar Bar) and live sessions for Song, By Toad, to rather more intimate performances in less conventional environments. A personal favourite is ‘Unanswered Echo Verse’ from Small Hours, a field recording at Euan and Ali’s (presumably the home of mini50’s Euan McMeeken), with its ambient baby noise and resulting shushing from its parents.

There is also a video of the tour, filmed by Lindsay Slepekis, basically a short film, a collage of performances in a multitude of locations. The film ends with an incredibly intimate shot of Umhoefer’s performance of ‘Unanswered Echo Verse’ which I mentioned above, in which he is approached by the baby from the front and a cat from behind.  The whole thing is great and serves as a collage that perfectly illustrates the trip. It also shows that Old Earth’s songs hold up well in the live setting, and sort of proves what I already knew in that I could sit and listen to him play guitar for hours.

You can buy Milwaukee To Edinburgh, 2013 via Old Earth’s Bandcamp page.

P.S. Old Earth are playing a show with White Hinterland and S. Carey on April the 24th, so if you're in Milwaukee get yourself along!

[milwaukeerecord]

Old Earth brings Milwaukee a belated Scottish souvenir

              If you're familiar with experimental folk force Old Earth, you're probably still reeling from the semi-recent release of the 13-minute masterpiece All Kill. In addition to quickly gaining steam locally, Todd Umhoefer’s creative vehicle caught the attention of mini50, an Edinburgh, Scotland-based record label that has put out each of Old Earth’s five rapid-fire releases since 2013’s Small Hours EP.

Last fall, Umhoefer flew to Scotland. Based on the new Old Earth tour video, it wasn’t so much a European vacation as a full-fledged work trip.

While across the pond, Umhoefer recorded a studio session, played a few club shows and did a series of field recordings—one of which was done as a graffiti artist painted a badass Old Earth logo on a wall in Edinburgh.

The recordings have been combined into a tour album, Milwaukee To Edinburgh, 2013. The release was given to backers of a crowdfunding campaign that helped facilitate the trip, but it was made available to non-Kickstarter backers earlier this week, too. This unique recording should be enough to hold fans in both continents over until the next Old Earth release, which is slated for August. Umhoefer plans to go to Scotland again this fall.

[notyouronlyfriend]

Song of the day - Therial Errand by Old Earth

[vsmallflames]

Old Earth - a low place at The Old Place

Old Earth is Todd Umhoefer, who we have previously featured on our best free music of 2011 list. It was an inexcusable oversight on my part that he didn't feature again on last year's list, so hopefully this post convinces you to go out and listen to all of his stuff.

a low place at The Old Place is an album that Umhoefer released last year, consisting of six songs which appear as a single track, which comes in at just over 18 minutes in length. Several of the tracks have been previewed on Bandcamp in the past (most notably 'more wrung in the wrong?' which was the track that introduced me into Old Earth) but this is certainly the definitive collection. The album was recorded in the basement of Umhoefer's grandparents' vacant home, where he says ghosts are abound. This eerie atmosphere pervades the entire album and some of the haunting experimentation on show really is rather beautiful. There's also this strange and ominous side to it that makes the whole thing fell like some sort of weird fever dream. The sparse lyrics provide a perfect accompaniment to the music. Below are the lyrics of 'wait less, more strings', which I think give a good indication of the atmosphere of the album as a whole:

What if it's all in the fall?  What if it's all in the fall?  What if it won't happen now?  What if it's all in the fall?  What if it rains again?  What if it's all in the fall?  What if it's an old house?  What if it's a wait?  What if it's an older word?  What if it's a weight?  What if it's alone?  What if it's a wait?  What if the word was so?  What if it's all in the fall?  What if it's a wait?  What if it's a weight?  What if it's a wait? 

The album was produced by Christopher Porterfield of Conrad Plymouth and Field Report (who we are very big fans of), who also lends vocals on the album. Nick Berg and Travis Whitty, two other members of Field Report, also lend their talents to the project. You can buy the album on vinyl, CD or digital download via Bandcamp - and it's really really good so I would suggest that you strongly consider it.

Old Earth has also recently signed with mini50, a label based in Edinburgh, and has a release, titled Small Hours, scheduled for release in the Spring. I have embedded the teaser trailer (which was created by Blackbox Visual, using footage from Don Ford) below:

Old Earth - Small Hours album trailer from Blackbox Visual on Vimeo.