VIA PRESS RELEASE | Watchhouse’s Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater is now available on CD, digital, and limited edition double LP on Clear Smokey Vinyl.
On January 23, 2020, North Carolina-based Watchhouse—Emily Frantz (fiddle/vocals) and Andrew Marlin (mandolin/vocals)—known at the time as Mandolin Orange, took the stage at one of Austin’s most prominent venues, Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater, in support of their sixth album, Tides of a Teardrop. Supported by three backing musicians, the 18-song set features the full, rich, and personal songs and “a commanding sense of how to present a 90-minute acoustic show” (Austin American Statesman).
From relationship songs—“When She’s Feeling Blue,” “My Blinded Heart,” and “Lonely Love Affair”—to socio-political themes—“Gospel Shoes” and “Wildfire”—“their songs feel like whispered secrets, one hand cupped to your ear” (Do512). The opening act, fellow North Carolinian Kate Rhudy, joins the duo on second fiddle for the debut of the instrumental song “The Hawk Is a Mule” and on harmony for “Into the Sun.”
Throughout the set, Marlin and Frantz occasionally swap the acoustic guitar, allowing each the opportunity with a different string instrument from their usual fiddle (Frantz) and mandolin (Marlin). Josh Oliver offers nice textures on acoustic and electric guitars, while Clint Mullican (upright bass) and Joe Westerlund (drums) give delicate numbers rhythmic support. Recorded at the Moody Theater in Austin, TX, the album was engineered by Mark Alspaugh, mixed by Sean Sullivan, and mastered by Alan Silverman at Aerial Sound, with artwork by Ishaq Fahim.
