Congrats to Twisted Pine, who took home “Americana Artist of the Year” at the 2021 Boston Music Awards! This is their second time receiving this honor, after winning in 2018.
Released in the Summer of 2020, Right Now is a cosmic map of the new and glistening journeys of Twisted Pine, the Boston-based spacecraft of a band that was once bluegrass but is now “something else, a wider version of a stringband, boundary jumpers akin to outfits like Punch Brothers, Nickel Creek, and Crooked Still [The Boston Globe].” The soundscape for this full-length sophomore release has all the sass of zero-gravity pop; the grooves of 2 a.m. funk jams; the astral flute and shoobedoos of 70s radio. “Punch Brothers meets Jean-Luc Ponty and Ian Anderson [Jethro Tull],” writes Folk Alley of the instrumental track “Amadeus Party” — and yet the lyric narratives are packed with the elements of earthling mountain music. “Right Now” aims to shut the careless mouth of an ex. “Papaya” whispers, “Don’t just pass me right by.”
“Dreamaway” describes a faith that comes and goes. “Don’t Come Over Tonight” demands a night off from a guy’s opinions. The covers pay homage to Father John Misty and Tex Logan — two points that intersect the plane of this exquisite world. Twisted Pine is Kathleen Parks (Newburgh, NY) on fiddle and lead vox; Dan Bui (Houston, TX) on mandolin; Chris Sartori (Concord, MA) on bass; and Twisted Pine’s newest addition, Anh Phung (Chilliwack, BC) on flute. Everybody sings. Twisted Pine plays under the influence of explorers Jerry Douglas (with whom the band occasionally tours), Bela Fleck, Sierra Hull, Billy Strings, The Wood Brothers, and Lake Street Dive and Crooked Still (label mates at Signature Sounds Recordings). Right Now was produced by Twisted Pine and by Dan Cardinal at Dimension Sound in Jamaica Plain (Boston), MA.