Dear friends,

On Monday we officially released our brand-new studio album, Around These Parts. You can purchase your copy on CD by going here. In addition, through this Friday, we are offering a FREE DOWNLOAD of the whole album in high-quality digital format. (If you are a cereal-box reader when it comes to album art and lyrics and/or prefer your music in a more tangible format--guilty as charged, I am--then you will want to pick up a hard copy; this is our most elaborate CD packaging to date.)

Last December, we packed up our instruments and a couple suitcases and headed to Upstate NY to start laying down tracks with longtime producer Tim Lynch of The Recording Company. We had some songs we really liked and a general theme, but unlike previous albums, these were not songs we were overly familiar with or knew precisely how we wanted them to sound. But that made it exciting. We wanted to be surprised and see where the muse took us. In my head, though, this was always supposed to be a winter (or wintry) record, something to listen to on those cold days that are short on daylight and make you want to cook stew and sip wine or a cup of coffee and spin vinyl and dig deep into a good long book. Ben and I had been listening to a lot of old folk-country records, like Waylon and Johnny and Jerry Jeff Walker--we wanted our songs to set a mood and tell stories. The characters in these 10 new songs are on journeys--always figuratively, as we all are, but in many cases literally too. Characters who have lived life. Hardened folks. Good people who live simple lives that haven't always panned out. I love these characters. I know some of them well. We all do.

The first track borrows its title from Jack Kerouac's On the Road. These are road songs; roads that promise to lead somewhere better, but often fall short. Most importantly, though we romantically tell ourselves otherwise, roads do not go on forever. All roads end.

This record was incredibly fun to make, and we are equally as proud of how it turned out. A lot of talented people put a lot of hard work, time, money, and love into this one, and I think it shows. Bassist Tony Markellis is back once again, as is past full-time JH band member and current frequent guest Jordan Santiago on fiddle and mandolin. We also are thrilled to share with our fans the beautiful voice of the immensely talented Hayley Sabella, a dynamite singer-songwriter in her own right. And of course Tim Lynch lends his keyboard talents throughout the record.

I have quite easily listened to this record hundreds of times from front to back over the past 6 months, in various stages of completeness, and I still am not tired of hearing it. I love these characters, their stories, the way the record sounds sonically, our friends who guested on it, and I had a whole lot of fun putting together the artwork and 12-page booklet that goes with it.

So, for the next couple of days, you will be able to download FOR FREE Around These Parts in its entirety on our Music page. If you are inclined to offer a donation, that would be very much appreciated, or better yet, pick up a "real" copy on CD. But more than anything we just want as many people to listen to this record as possible. So…listen and SHARE!

Help us get this music out there! And check out the attached track, "The Last Monkey Maker."

Andy & JH

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AROUND THESE PARTS

Nowhere to Go But Everywhere
The Last Monkey Maker
Bayley-Hazen Road
Deep in the Dirt
Jericho
Wait Till May
Follow My Light
One More Night
Route 81
Around These Parts

Andy Campolieto (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica)
Ben Lee (electric and acoustic guitar, dobro, banjo)
Mike Dingley (drums)
Tony Markellis (electric and acoustic bass)

Guest musicians:
Hayley Sabella (vocals on "Deep in the Dirt" and "Wait Till May")
Jordan Santiago (violin, mandolin)
Tim Lynch (keyboards, percussion)

Produced by Tim Lynch and Jo Henley
Recorded and mixed by TIm Lynch at The Recording Company, Esperance, NY.
Assistant engineer: Rick Sullivan
Mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music

All songs written by Andy Campolieto, except "Bayley-Hazen Road" and "Route 81": music by Ben Lee and Andy Campolieto

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