Recorded through fire and brimstone to 1" magnetic tape at The Creamery and The House of Faith between 2018 and 2019 in Oakland, CA.
God damn what a journey.
Mike and I started the Anglers in the fall of 2014. I was driving a bit for Lyft but basically unemployed, and my daughter Loretta was just 2 months old, so I was trying to get a grip on fatherhood as well. At some point you realize there’s never a perfect time for anything, and that life just keeps coming at you. So I called Mike and said, hey man, you know that country band we’ve always talked about? Lets do it.
Mike brought in John Pringle on drums and the rest was history. This record that’s coming out now was the goal from day one. But nothing ever goes to plan. We recorded an LP in 2016 but things just weren’t working out for a few reasons, and it became the 3 song “Papercut EP”. Around that time I quit drinking and struggled intensely with sober life, taking inventory of my depression, and the hopes and dreams that had been taking a backseat to my long time love affair and dependency on alcohol. Reconnecting with myself was fucking hard, but it eventually brought new energy and clarity, and I’m particularly proud of the songs I wrote in the period from 2016-2018.
Somewhere In 2017 we were joined by the incredible talents of Joe Cross on backup harmonies and acoustic guitar. This was like turning on a switch, the Anglers finally had the sound I’d envisioned from day one. After a handful of gigs gelling us together as a band, it was time to take another stab at an LP.
We had no idea of the shitstorm looming ahead of us.
The first sessions laying down rhythm tracks were a breeze. Mike and John had been playing together for years, and both just so fuckin good at what they do. I’m so grateful to have played with them. Their talents on this record just sparkle. From there, sessions started falling apart as the engineer was having an increasingly hard time with booze, and just blowing scheduled sessions. We wouldn’t know about his condition until we’d hauled all our shit there and knocked on the door. That is if we even got an answer.
Eventually this came to a head and I had no choice but to ask for the session tapes and wish him good luck. I never got angry, I just did what I had to do. “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” Honestly it felt a bit like karma for all the dumb shit I put people through with my own boozing.
From there we took the tapes to my old friend Bart Thurber at House of Faith. Tracking was finished in the Spring of 2019. It had been such an effort to get to that point, I was sort dragging my feet. We’d also parted was at this point with our drummer John so the band’s future was uncertain.
Then on June 28th, Anglers’ bassist Mike Mutti, my old friend, and closest collaborator on the project, passed away unexpectedly on June 28th. Everyone that knew Mike was and is still devastated.
I wanted so badly to just keep trucking with it and put the record out ASAP to share some Mike’s amazing last work with everyone, as a comfort in the face of the loss. But just the loss and shock of it all was a brick wall I kept slamming into. I’m working on forgiving myself for being human and processing things weirdly. I’ve been paralyzed on doing anything with it for a solid year. But the only way to go is forward, and infinitely better for it to come out late than come out never.
Mike was a fiend about bass tone, and the bottom end on this album is just so big and beautiful. Fender precision bass out of a vintage tube Ampeg SVT recorded to analog tape, it just doesn’t get any better. He brought irreplaceable feel and touch to these songs. On the drums, John masterfully give the songs a driving heartbeat, or alternately creates a beautiful space for the sounds to just marinate and stew. Joe’s vocal harmonies are just gold, it wasn’t til he joined us that we really found our sound. Finally we were joined by guest David Cuetter on pedal steel, who is just a monster of a musician.
credits
released October 5, 2020
Tim Sandberg: guitar, vocals, hammond B3
Mike Mutti: bass
Joe Cross: acoustic, vocals
John Pringle: drums
David Cuetter: pedal steel on Ashes, Love Birds, Whittlin' Down, Ghosts in a Play, Go On.
Engineers: Bart Thurber, Greg Ashley. Mixed and mastered by Bart Thurber.
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