Fellow Pynins are a Portland, Oregon, contemporary folk duo featuring Ian George (guitar, mandolin) and Dani Aubert (claw hammer banjo, bouzouki). After living in Minneapolis for several years, they relocated to southwest Oregon in 2021. They recorded their new album Lady Mondegreen (out on 20 May) at their new home, which sits, off the grid, in the mountain land of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.
The album is a collection of traditional songs, which they describe as a collection of odes – these are songs that helped shape and influence their sound; in return, on Lady Mondegreen, they honour those songs through their unique reinterpretations. While many of us may have a version of these songs stored in our memories, it’s through such reinterpretation that these songs are often given a new life. That fog of familiarity is lifted, and we hear the song and words again with refreshing clarity. They take on a new life of their own, and old words take on new meaning in the context of a modern world. This makes their choice of album cover – Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights” – all the more poignant as, despite the passage of time, is not the fate of humanity still driven by passion, pleasure and greed? Like the painting, these old folk songs have a timeless aspect to them which has given them longevity and connection across the ages; Fellow Pynins heighten that connection.
For their lead single, “Pretty Polly” (out today), they draw from both older versions of the song and Woody Guthrie’s rewrite, “Pastures of Plenty.” They tell us, “We took the melody of Pretty Polly, the words of both songs and turned them into one story. We think Woody would have approved.”
Whatever influence guides their sound, there is no denying the spark and creative buzz that bubbles beneath their performances. There is a great beauty in both their timing and the subtle flourishes of their arrangements that ebb and flow perfectly…they sound at one with the song. Aided on the album by musicians like trumpeter Tree Palmedo, trombonist John Cushing and bassist Ted Olson, they have mastered a stunning blend that walks a perfectly balanced line between empathy and originality and presents those songs like you’ve not heard them before.
From start to finish, they work their magic in the accompanying live video for Pretty Polly, which we have the pleasure of premiering below.
Lady Mondegreen is released on 20 May, and they will be touring the US from April and the UK in July/August. See below. Pretty Polly is released today and can also be heard on our Regular Folk Playlist on Spotify here.
Fellow Pynins Tour Dates
April 28 – 7 Devils Brewing Company – Coos Bay, Oregon
April 29 – Miller’s – Carnation, Washington
April 30 – Private Show – Seattle, Washington
May 1 – Finn River Cidery – Chimacum, Washington
May 20 – Folk Alliance International – Kansas City, Missouri
June 2 – Bristol’s Cider House – Atascadero, California
June 3 – McCabe’s Guitars – Los Angeles, California
June 4 – Blue House Stage – Santa Cruz, California
June 5 – Livermore House Concert – Livermore, California
June 11 – Ashland Folk Collective – Ashland, Oregon
UK DATES
July 1 – Americana Fest at the American Museum – Bath, England
July 2, 3 – Maverick Music Fest – Easton, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England
July 6 – Frome Music & Arts Festival – Frome, England
July 7 – Fishery Wharf Cafe – Hemel Hempstead, England
July 10 – Brockwell Green House – London, England
July 11 – The Bell Inn – Bath, England
July 13 – John Wesley’s New Room – Bristol, England
July 14 – The New Adelphi Club – Hull, England
July 15 – The Live Room – Caroline Street Social Club – Shipley, England
July 15, 16 – Southwell Music Fest – Southwell, England
July 17 – Hawk’s Well Theater – Sligo, Ireland
August 9 – The Montrose Playhouse | Cinema & Art Centre – Montrose, Scotland
August 17 – Llantrisant Folk Club – Llantrisant, Wales
August 18 – The Arc – Rhayader, Wales
August 19 – Nest Collective – London, England
August 21 – The Square & Compass – Worth Matravers, England
Lady Mondegreen Track Listing:
- Silver Dagger
- The Road and the Miles to Dundee
- Bonny at Morn
- Pretty Polly
- The Streets of Derry
- She’s Like the Swallow
- Son David
- The Galway Shawl
Find out more here: http://www.fellowpynins.com/