The last time we spoke of Dave McGraw & Mandy Fer was back in 2016 when they released their third album Off-Grid Lo-Fi on which they literally went off-grid, “holed up on a sparsely populated island in the San Juan archipelago (as close to Canadian shores as you get in the States), reliant on wind and solar power for what is an intimate album, their voices and harmonies well to the fore but warm and inviting.”
A few years on, they look completely transformed and raring to go with McGraw sporting a fuller beard and playing the drums and Fer looking very comfortable handling a Fender Stratocaster, the duo, along with longtime friend Thom Lord have announced a new project titled Sway Wild. We’re told that the project was born on a small island in the Salish Sea. Following a two-month sailing voyage through the remote anchorages of British Columbia. When they returned home, re-energised, some changes began to take place in their musical approach…
“They departed from their well-established acoustic approach in almost shocking fashion, each returning to the instruments on which they began their respective musical trajectories as teenagers. With Fer refocused on electric guitar, McGraw behind a drum kit for the first time in over a decade, and Lord on electric bass, the trio allowed themselves to rediscover everything they loved about making music. This soon gave birth to a creative torrent of new songs, and the trio emerged as a fully formed band, organically and unexpectedly, with a sound transformed. With a fresh sense of purpose, the new material was honed on tours across the U.S. and in Europe, performing alongside band favorites Lake Street Dive, Charlie Hunter Trio and others.”
The new project finds them exploring the corners of rock, folk, pop, jazz, prog, and funk and joining them on this journey are Birds of Chicago and Sean Hayes on guest vocals, members of MarchFourth, cellists Skip VonKuske (Portland Cello Project) and Anna Fritz, and Anna Tivel on violin.
Their self-titled debut album hits the world on September 13th, check out their new video for Chimney Fire below which was filmed by Peter Strasser at Aviva Films.
https://daveandmandymusic.com/