We have a great ticket giveaway to go see acclaimed songwriters Dave McGraw and Mandy Fer at The Walnut Room this Thursday at The Walnut Room. The contest is running on our Facebook and Instagram page. We have had these guys playing on repeat for the last few weeks and want to send you and a friend to check them out live. 

Internationally-acclaimed songwriters Dave McGraw and Mandy Fer’s latest album, Maritime, captures a moment in time and place from their seaside home. Upon early release in Europe, Maritime charted at #1 on the EuroAmericana Chart for two consecutive months and ranked among the Best Albums of 2014 by The Telegraph, praising it for “…soulful songs, intuitive musicianship, and fine singing.” 

Tucked away in the current-swept inland seas between Seattle, Washington and Victoria, British Columbia lies an archipelago of islands so serene that it readily defies our notion of political boundaries and sense of time. Handcrafted wooden cabins are nestled into small farms, still beyond the reach of cell towers, and the allure of the ocean is ever present. Instead of traveling far from their natural solitude to record an album in a bustling city, McGraw and Fer called on their cohort of kindred musicians and producer to come together from across the country to make what they were calling their “island record.” Recorded live in a home, at the end of a dirt road, amidst towering evergreens, a story of a patient island is told.

McGraw and Fer met in Flagstaff, Arizona in 2010 before relocating to the Pacific Northwest in 2012. McGraw spent a decade as a wildlife biologist, studying endangered birds in remote locales from the deserts of Mexico and the Grand Canyon to the mountainous rain forests of Washington state - penciling lyrics on data sheets with binoculars in hand. Fer’s musical pulse led her to Spain, where she studied music, language and local culture. After years of playing electric lead guitar with bands stateside, she suddenly found herself exploring the streets of Sevilla writing songs on a nylon guitar.

Together, their exceptional vocal harmonies coupled with Fer’s pioneering electric guitar work have become a vehicle to carry them around the world. The pair has honed their skills touring extensively throughout the US and Europe, sharing stages with fellow troubadours including Iron & Wine, Glen Hansard, Gregory Alan Isakov, Kelly Joe Phelps, Birds of Chicago and many others. Winning over audiences anywhere from Alaska to Amsterdam, McGraw and Fer are on the crest of a building wave with the US release of their new album, Maritime, on March 3rd, 2015.

Maritime is unique in its authenticity, navigating the waters of folk, indie-rock, and rootsy Americana. The album is emotive, raw, and honest. Compelling vocal harmonies grace every track, along with electric guitar, warm cello, driving rhythms and rich, wooded instruments. It is far more than just a romantic snapshot of rural, pastoral living, but rather a window into the complicated realities of broad human existence in both a troubled and beautiful world. Maritime is both the asking of questions, and the subtle answers that an island reveals.