Old Pup is a warmly haunted folk outfit led by Milwaukee-based pedal steel player/songwriter, Will Hansen, who writes lyrically vivid (at-times experimental) country-tinged songs. Sophomore album, Spider Towns releases independently on February 28 & features intimate, ethereal recordings captured in living rooms, warehouse hallways, & wide-open fields spanning Milwaukee, New Orleans, & New Mexico. A mighty cast of friends & collaborators, including core members Ben Boehm, Ellie Jackson, Drue DeVente & Nate Kinsman, & Johanna Rose seamlessly enter & exit the songs, adding touches of personality & texture throughout. Hansen’s lyrical dexterity is at the forefront of this latest collection, seamlessly weaving the everyday with the interstellar. In the words of songwriter Chris Acker, “Old Pup is Rosetta-stoned.”
Long Mama’s music blisters with the heart and grit of someone who has lost hard, loved harder, and licked her burns until they stung then silvered. In a drafty attic just west of the Milwaukee River she grew up on, you’ll find songwriter Kat Wodtke (Wood-key) raking through notebooks in search of a salve: words, stories, and sounds to temper the dumpster fires we never mean to light.