Press Release

June 11, 2014

Acoustic guitar goddess and songwriter Gayla Drake is also one hell of a fiddle player, as she proves over and over on her upcoming release, Aunt G & the Stone City Nephews. There are many reasons to be excited about this new record.

The three biggest reasons to be excited are: guitarists John Waite and Jake Niederhauser, and bassist Jim Leland. In a recent phone conversation, Drake told the story of how the band became a family. "I met John, Jake and Slim [Jim] at The General Store in Stone City, Iowa, which is a legendary music venue in the Midwest. It was love at first fiddle tune." The trio had already formed a powerhouse bluegrass-based band, Kodiak Flats, to perform Jake's original songs, as well as some bluegrass standards, bluegrass versions of rock songs, and a few traditional tunes. Drake became their fiddle player within weeks of their first meeting.

And one thing led to another. Drake explained, "They started calling me Auntie G right away. Then one day, we were at our favorite local open mic and jam session at The General Store, and John said he'd signed us up to perform as Aunt G and the Stone City Nephews, and I instantly saw the whole record happen in my mind."

Drake had been writing songs with some kind of ensemble in mind for a couple of years, but there was nothing definitive driving her until that fateful day in Stone City. Work began quickly with John Waite as co-arranger. "We got together several times over the summer and fall. I'd just play two or three songs a session, and we'd talk through 'em, break 'em apart and put 'em back together. It was intense, and personal, and hard. And fun."

Waite and Drake also began to work as a duo, and frequently recruited mandolinist/guitarist Dustin Busch to sit in. When the record needed some additional textures, he was the first call Drake made. "Dustin is a wonderfully gentle, charming and intuitive player. He and John play off each other so well."

AG/SCN is going to be on vinyl, a decision Drake spent some time researching. "I felt in my gut that this music needed to be on vinyl," she stated. "It's analog, acoustic, traditional, rootsy and real. I remember the excitement when I was a kid, going to the record store and buying newly released music and having that whole vinyl experience-slitting the plastic cover with my thumbnail, pulling out the disc so gently, that first whiff of the new vinyl. This music is so important to me, so special and precious, that I didn't feel right putting it on a CD."

The band has launched a campaign on Indiegogo, at /www.igg.me/at/auntgrecord , to fund the manufacturing of the records, and help do some promotion. Release is planned for September 2014.