Highlights

session highlights (full resume)

SeTH BERNARD, "EgGTONES FOR FUN, EGGTONES BLUES"

"Born on April Fools Day, and playing the trickster-bard every day since, he's grown from a potent young Interlochen idealist into a black-bearded surprise-eyed psych-rocker singing the woods and water, souls and soils of the Great Lakes."
Gorno's Waltz Ft. Samantha Cooper & Ian Gorman
The Original Swing Video

Chris Bathgate, "Dizzy Seas"

"The music itself is borne of daydreams, and invites you to join in, with the album having left a door unlocked for you to enter by Bathgate's inimitable skill in, as NPR puts it, distilling alienation into bruised-sounding beauty." -Quite Scientific

Chris Bathgate, "Old Factory"

Chris Bathgate recently released a beautiful EP called "Old Factory" that I contributed voice/violin to. The single premiered on NPR's All Songs Considered.

The Go Rounds, "Don't Go Not Changing"

Check out this Make It Sweeter single by The Go Rounds from their forthcoming album, "Don't Go Not Changing". This was one of the most fun- and most challenging harmonies I've ever sang. The Go Rounds! They're killin' it.

Matt Jones, The Deep Enders

I was lucky to contribute violin and vocals to Matt Jones new album "The Deep Enders". Check out the first track "Sarah & Sullivan." It'l getcha. It took me a while to sing & play this song without tearing up. Here's a video of the live band that surrounds Matt with strings. And here's a brief Jones bio: "Well. The bio keeps changing, really. What is permanent is this: MJ was raised by a combination of circus music and doo-wop, with a healthy dose of ragtime thrown in. His music has been known to suffer from colitis."

Maraj, Voyager

This group is no more. But man it was fun. I co-wrote hooks, sang, rapped and danced my heart out. "Who knew the newest face of indie hip hop would come out of Kalamazoo? Graham Parsons probably did. Led by Andy Catlin, the brains behind the Double Phelix (record label) empire, Maraj is on the verge of something epic." -Founders Taproom

The Soil & The Sun, Meridian

"Meridian is the debut studio album from The Soil & The Sun out of Grand Rapids, Mich. On this release, the septet covers a lot of ground. From the almost orchestral backing vocals on “How Long” to the dynamic and unpredictable rhythms of “Leviathan,” the Soil & the Sun never seem to want to settle down, preferring to mesh competing sounds to craft an expansive collage." -Paste Magazine

Tom Hymn, Early Magic

Recorded in 2014 at the Birdhouse in Grand Rapids, MI by John Hanson. Mixed by Double Phelix in Kzoo, MI. Mastered by Mike Nau. Art & design by Sam J. Snedeker. Tom Hymn: guitars, voice, drums and percussion, harmonica. Hope Fiddler: piano. Samantha Cooper: voice and violin. John Hanson: banjo, vibes, voice, guitar. Jacob Bullard: bass, guitar, voice. Aaron Wildey: guitar, ebow, banjo. Adam Thompson: vibes. Zach Nichols: trumpet

Bowhunter The Right Hands 'Round

On August 11, 2014, the Bowhunter string band released THE RIGHT HANDS 'ROUND. The album features traditional and original fiddle tunes that we play at dances as well as a few ballads with sweet harmony singing. The full version of the album (available in physical disc & on digital download from Earthwork Music) includes jokes and other commentary between a few tunes. The iTunes digital version is stripped down - simply the tunes with nothing else. We invite you to choose your own adventure.

Maraj EP1

Stream the album here: Maraj Bandcamp "An unprecedented fusion of hip-hop and psychedelic sounds – with swirls of electronic, folk, funk, blues, and soul music – Maraj seemingly appeared out of thin air when they opened for Breathe Owl Breathe at The Pyramid Scheme this spring. The Kalamazoo group will release their debut, EP1, this month in equally spontaneous fashion, fitting of how the whole collaborative project came to life. -Recoil Magazine

Sam & Graham "Sweet Green Valley" single

From The Call of Double Phelix, released 13 August 2013. Written by Graham Parsons and Gitis Baggs. Samantha Cooper - Vocals. Graham Parsons - Guitar. Andy Catlin - Drums, Hammond Organ. Joe Lucas - Bass. Elisabeth Pixley-Fink - Piano. Tyler Bassett - Resonator Guitar. John Hanson - Vibraphone. Ben Lau - Pedal Steel.

The Go Rounds Purple Mountain Travesty

Stream the album here: The Go Rounds Purple Mountain Travesty. Kalamazoo's favorite suns. High energy twang-rock and jelly roll.

Hearth & Hymn Vol. 1

"After years of raiding family songbooks and sharing tunes, multi-instrumentalists Samantha Cooper (fiddle/guitar) andElisabeth Pixley-Fink (piano/guitar) created Hearth and Hymn as a channel to interpret old songs. The pair grew up in a tradition of “kitchen music,” singing and making music with their families."
Samantha Cooper - Vocals, Violin. Elisabeth Pixley-Fink - Vocals, Piano

"KHU" Matthew Barney film River Of Fundament

I learned to play a "Metalin" for the film score and 7+ hr live performance of KHU, Act 2 of Matthew Barney's River Of Fundament film in Detroit, MI. This film is loosely based on Norman Mailer's 1983 novel. Each act, "tackles a different stage of the soul’s transformation from death to rebirth—in accordance with Egyptian mythology (or at least Mailer’s retelling of it)." -Interview Magazine. The Metalins were built for this film, and they come with a saw like bow. The intervals are spaced somewhere between a cello and a violin. "KHU is an operatic rust-belt spectacle of law enforcement, union labor, classic car fetishes, and hoary Egyptian funerary texts—with an entire city as backdrop." -Glen Helfand

Lasso, "Golden"

Released 21 April 2014
Recorded at Double Phelix, Kalamazoo, MI
Produced and mixed by Andy Catlin and Ben Lau
Performed/Arranged by: Andy Catlin, Ben Lau, Tod Klosterman,
Mike Savina, Sam Cooper, Adam Danis, Ambre Wright, Graham Parsons, Drew Tyner, Bennett Young, FIona Dickinson, Dave Crider
Mastered by Ian Gorman at La Luna Sound, Kzoo,MI
Album Cover by John Hanson

"Glow In The Dark" Pat Carroll (Cat Peril)

Please visit www.catperil.com as well as the Facebook Artist Page under the pseudonym of “Pat Carroll - Cat Peril” to learn about Pat’s music. You can also go to www.earthworkmusic.com to purchase Pat’s CD, 7’ Record & Glow In The Dark vinyl.
"Kalamazoo songwriter dies at age 26, recently released 'brilliant' new album (video)"
"In Peril, Pat Carroll releases 2nd album 'Glow In The Dark'
"Pat Carroll's 'Glow In The Dark': Earthwork artists rally around Kalamazoo singer's epic music". Here is Pat's Obituary.

"Bloodroot" Elisabeth Pixley-Fink

I first met Elisabeth during a sister circle at the Heron Homestead in Kalamazoo. Soon afterward, we lived and worked together at the Growing Matters Garden. Much of our early practicing arose while cooking, weeding and harvesting together. This kitchen musician mentality grew into a band called, "Lloyd & The Fellas". Luckily, our collaboration continues today.

"Feathername" Graham Parsons & The Go Rounds

Check out this behind-the-scenes video chronicling the making of the album! "With years of writing, recording, and touring behind them, Kalamazoo band The Go Rounds are returning this summer with a new full-length album, Feathername, a 7" single, and an expansive tour featuring an orchestra of Michigan musicians. The recording sessions found the band expanding to include members of the Red Sea Pedestrians, Red Tail Ring, The Kalamazoo Brass Collective, Elk Welcome, and Birdfingers, as well as studio heavyweights including Drew Howard, Ben Lau, Fiona Dickinson, Sam Cooper, and students from the WMU Jazz Program."

"Duende" Fiona Dickinson

"The level of catharsis and convalescence in Fiona Dickinson’s music is astonishing. You can feel her voice pushing back the demons as she digs deep into a growl, and then angelically welcome in the healing process with the voice of tranquility... The production, handled by Dickinson and Andy Catlin, wisely places her voice and acoustic guitar at the foreground of a multitude of other sounds, including violin and backing vocals from Sam Cooper on several cuts and a cornucopia of instrumentation from Dickinson and Catlin throughout..." Peter Damien Cook, DIT Kalamazoo.