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.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cHB3XiY4Io]
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!