Mags’ 21st is the funky new roots single from Corner House, a young American quartet with Scottish ties. The traditional track was written by Orkney-born fiddler Louise Bichan for her brother Magnus’ 21st birthday and will be released tomorrow (Friday 15th April).
The roots band, which sees Louise join forces with mandolin player Ethan Setiawan, cellist Casey Murray and guitarist Ethan Hawkins, write and arrange music with Irish, Scottish, Appalachian Stringband and Bluegrass influences. The foursome met studying together at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
The cheerful single Mags’ 21st sparked the band into existence, as Louise roped her then housemates into playing the self-composed tune for her brother, in turn discovering they had a great sound and finding a “musical family in one another”.
Like the music, the accompanying video below, by Dylan Ladds of doosterfilm.com, is fun-filled and vibrant. There’s also a beautiful groove going on throughout this piece that makes it highly addictive and danceable. The single is taken from their debut album, How Beautiful It’s Been, due for release on Friday 27th May. The album will involve a unique blend of indie rock and pop with bluegrass, Celtic, old time sounds…we can’t wait to hear it.
Louise Bichan said: “Mags’ 21st is a catchy, slightly crooked and unusual tune, inspired by both my roots in Scotland, as well as my musical experiences in Boston and at Berklee College of Music, particularly bringing together skills I’ve learnt from fantastic fiddlers like Darol Anger and Bruce Molsky.
“We were really pleased with the arc of the track – it builds in a nice way and ends fairly high energy, with the addition of drums really supporting that. We wanted to channel a party atmosphere and it hopefully lets audiences hear a bit more of what’s to come from us on our debut album.”
Mags’ 21st sees Corner House joined by Jordan Perlson on drums and Viktor Krauss on double bass. The single was recorded in a studio in the Hudson Valley, New York, with engineer Eli Crews and Edinburgh-born producer Maeve Glichrist, who also helped arrange the track with Corner House.
Mags’ 21st will be available to stream and download on all major digital platforms on Friday 15th April.
For more information, visit www.cornerhouseband.com.