{"id":2058,"date":"2020-02-24T19:20:32","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T19:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/?p=2058"},"modified":"2020-02-21T19:22:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T19:22:00","slug":"award-winning-indie-folk-duo-the-sweater-set-to-release-new-album-fly-on-the-wall-on-may-8-2020-album-recorded-in-front-of-an-audience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/award-winning-indie-folk-duo-the-sweater-set-to-release-new-album-fly-on-the-wall-on-may-8-2020-album-recorded-in-front-of-an-audience\/","title":{"rendered":"Award-winning indie folk duo The Sweater Set to release new album, “Fly on the Wall,” on May 8, 2020; album recorded in front of an audience"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
\nFebruary 24, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

Award-winning indie folk duo The Sweater Set\u00a0to release new album,\u00a0Fly on the Wall<\/em>, on May 8, 2020; album recorded live in front of an audience<\/strong><\/p>\n

Award-winning Washington, DC-based duo The Sweater Set (Maureen Andary and Sara Curtin) is set to release its new album,\u00a0Fly on the Wall<\/em>, on May 8, 2020 on Local Woman Records. Performed live in front of an audience at Tonal Park in Takoma Park, Maryland in early 2018, the album, featuring the pair\u2019s blend of indie folk merged with hints of Americana, was recorded and mixed by Don Godwin and mastered by Charlie Pilzer at Tonal Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is the album our fans have been craving,\u201d says Curtin. \u201cThey come to our shows time and time again to witness the spark in our live performance: evidence of a decade of collaboration and friendship, and the truly unique blend of our voices together in unison and harmony. This album is just that.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the two songwriters recorded\u00a0Fly on the Wall\u00a0<\/em>in 2018, they were both childless women. And what happened next in their lives completely defies logic. In the ensuing year, each artist gave birth to a set of twins, about seven months apart. \u201cChange,\u201d a track Curtin wrote with anticipation, highlights the moment Andary gave her the big news she was expecting: \u201cCome on in, take a seat, I\u2019ve got a secret for you. And I\u2019m afraid what it might mean but I\u2019m facing the truth: things are gonna change.\u201d Little did they know exactly how much, and how difficult it would be to complete the process of prepping the album for release with four very small children in the mix.<\/p>\n

\u201cBand practice has to be a little more efficient than it was in the early days, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Curtin says. \u201cNow we get together when the clock strikes naptime and close our cases when a baby \u2013 or four \u2013 cries out over the monitor.\u201d Says Andary, \u201cI really hope that our story will resonate with new and expectant parents. We want others to know that you can still be an artist and be a parent. It’s been a challenge to juggle everything. Being a parent is the hardest thing. You need all the support you can get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the double sets of twins changed the landscape of their lives considerably, the duo conceived of the album as a creative way to celebrate their decade of performing together: a recording session of all new work and an audience of fifty fans who paid to be just what
\nthe title states – a fly on the wall. The event functioned on so many levels: live show, recording session, premiere performance of new songs, and a party. Refreshments were served, the recording studio was adorned with collage: pictures spanning from their first shows in 2008 all the way to their performances at the Kennedy Center and touring days with Michelle Shocked. It was an exciting, interactive experience to connect with fans, friends, and family, inviting them into the creative process. \u201cIt was a beautiful way to celebrate our friendship,\u201d Andary says, \u201cand most importantly it wasn\u2019t just a show \u2013 it was a recording of brand new works and a commitment between us to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the simple format is something of a return to their roots. While The Sweater Set began in 2008, Curtin and Andary\u2019s relationship harkens back to a simpler time and place. The duo began singing together when they were young in 1996 at a Washington, DC church where their harmonies were nurtured and showcased, accompanied only by the piano playing of their choir director. And while this album has no piano and contains no biblical verse, it is comprised only of voice, guitar, and the occasional flute or tambourine, an instrumentation not unlike a folk mass. But the content is wildly different: breaking free from old ways of thinking, wrestling with disappointment, global warming, consumerism and addiction, death and the afterlife. What is a soul? What is a memory? Are they the same thing? Like these two new moms with four children under the age of 2 between them, this album has a lot going on. Listeners will be treated to stripped-down arrangements that focus on vocals and lyricism, reflective of the duo\u2019s maturing sound and choral roots.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sweater Set will pluck at your heartstrings\u201d with \u201cshimmering harmonies,\u201d wrote the\u00a0Washington Post<\/em>, adding that The Sweater Set, \u201cweaves through personal narratives as if Curtin and Andary are whispering juicy tidbits in your ear. \u2026their songs are tales of self-governing women.\u201d\u00a0Brightest Young Things\u00a0<\/em>nominated them as \u201cD.C.\u2019s most endearing duo,\u201d claiming their attraction to them in live performance was \u201cinstant and inescapable.\u201d\u00a0DC Music Review<\/em>\u00a0called the pair \u201ctwo of the coolest, hottest, totally in-touch, and effervescently talented multi-instrumentalists.\u201d Winners of more than a handful of Washington Area Music Awards (including one for their album\u00a0Oh Visitor<\/em>\u00a0in 2013), The Sweater Set has been performing for over 12 years, has toured throughout Ireland, the UK, the Northeast and Southern United States, opened for Dar Williams, Aoife O\u2019Donovan, and Michelle Shocked, served as Artists-in-Residence at the Music Center at Strathmore, and the duo is partnered with the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities as Artist Fellows in 2020.<\/p>\n

The spirit to share their music and their joy in a live setting is set free in the album\u2019s closing track, \u201cIn Search of a Crowd,\u201d where they sing, \u201cDriving dreams on country streets, thank god for the car that my dad gave me, and microphones to make us loud, a singer must go in search of a crowd, in search of a crowd.\u201d The Sweater Set will hit the road in support of\u00a0Fly on the Wall\u00a0<\/em>in 2020, with several dates confirmed and more to be announced soon. (See below schedule for tour dates.)<\/p>\n

The album is being released through a projects events and festivals grant from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, in partnership with Howard University\u2019s Music Therapy program. \u201cWe\u2019re so lucky to be in a world-class city with great universities and arts organizations,\u201d says Andary. \u201cThe DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities continues to have a big role in nurturing our local scene and connecting artist communities. We\u2019re grateful every day for their support. And hey, government funding, does it get any more DC than that?\u201d Students from Howard attended the mastering session, will sit for a masterclass with The Sweater Set to talk about album production, and a student performer will open their album release concert at the Mansion on O Street in Dupont Circle in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n

The Sweater Set Tour Schedule:<\/b>
\nApril 8 – Rockwood Music Hall \/ New York, NY
\nApril 10 – Monadnock Center \/ Peterborough NH
\nApril 16 – Mansion on O Street \/ Washington DC (album release show)
\n…more shows to be announced soon.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.thesweaterset.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 24, 2020 Award-winning indie folk duo The Sweater Set\u00a0to release new album,\u00a0Fly on the Wall, on May 8, 2020; album recorded live in front of an audience Award-winning Washington, DC-based duo The Sweater Set (Maureen Andary and Sara Curtin) is set to release its new album,\u00a0Fly on the Wall, on May … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Award-winning indie folk duo The Sweater Set to release new album, “Fly on the Wall,” on May 8, 2020; album recorded in front of an audience”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-2058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-press-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2058"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2059,"href":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions\/2059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/skyemediaonline.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}