Culture

The Ridges Record for Daytrotter.com

Posted on: Tuesday, January 3, 2012

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Athens band The Ridges have recorded a live session for the popular music website Daytrotter.com.

Daytrotter.com is hosted by Horseshack Studio in Rock Island, Ill., which has recorded hundreds of sessions by up-and-coming indie acts and legendary cult bands. Touring groups often stop by Horseshack to record a live set, which is made available via free download on the website.

The songs featured in The Ridges' session include live versions of "Not a Ghost," "War Bonds" and "Overboard" from the band's self-titled debut, as well as two previously unreleased tracks called "Dawn of Night" and "Jackson Pollock."

The session features eight musicians from The Ridges' rotating lineup: Victor Rasgaitis (vocals/guitar), Johnny Barton (percussion/vocals), Talor Smith (cello/vocals), Allie Levin (cello), Sarah Edgerton (viola/violin), Lauretta Werner (violin), Chris Damm (accordion) and Nathan Zangmeister (bass/vocals).

The performance is accompanied by an essay from Daytrotter founder Sean Moeller, titled "The Burn Of The End Of The Line," in which Moeller introduces listeners to The Ridges' sound, describing the orchestrally-infused folk rock as "the kind of Americana music that falls off the bone, but it's hidden with turn of the century and Dust Bowl-era themes that make it understood that there's bone there still."

The Daytrotter session comes at the end of a busy year for The Ridges in which the group released its first EP and opened for Good Old War, Jessica Lea Mayfield, These United States, Those Darlins, Horse Feathers, Margot & The Nuclear So & So's, Revolver and Robert Francis. 

The band was selected to play a Critic's Pick Showcase at the 2011 MidPoint Music Festival and also performed at the 2011 MidPoint Music Festival Indie Summer Series and a featured showcase set at The Clifton Heights Music Festival.

Visit Daytrotter.com to listen to or download The Ridges' session. More information about the band is available at www.facebook.com/TheRidges.