Elkhorn at the Thawed Out Fest in Chicago on April 26, 2025

The wonderful Thawed Out Fest in Chicago was a one day exploration of many different genres and styles of music with one thing in common -- extremely high levels of musicianship. I was able to attend the entire festival as well as record each performance thanks to having two sets of recording gear (one for the inside stage and one for the outside stage) and two fully cooperating FOH sound engineers. Stayed tuned for more sets from this absolutely spectacular day of music.

   

It was a joy, of course, to be able to catch guitarists Jesse Sheppard and Drew Gardner perform with guest drummer Charles Rumback on the outdoor stage. Elkhorn was the first band to release and widely distribute one of my live recordings in physical form, so they will always have my heartfelt gratitude as well as my respect. 

This performance was a sprawling, dreamy, multi-part psychedelic journey. I'm happy with the sonic results and hope you will enjoy it as much as I have in the past few months.

Recording information:

ELKHORN

2025-04-26

Chicago, IL

Thawed Out Fest

Jesse Sheppard: acoustic guitar

Drew Gardner: electric guitar, zither

Charles Rumback: drums

Tracklist:

01 Space — Charles’ Jam — The Bull — Space — Sol — Redhook Ramble (25:12)

02 Space — Equinox — Forlorn Hope (15:53)

Total time =  41:05

Microphones: Line Audio CM3 pair in NOS

Additional Source: mono soundboard feed

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii at 32/96

Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

downloads:

16bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC files (226 MB)

these lossless files can be burned to CDR, if you are into that sort of thing

320 kbps mp3 files (101 MB)

highest quality lossy mp3 files possible 

Drew Gardner at the Milwaukee Psych Fest on May 11, 2024

Drew Gardner returned to the Milwaukee Psych Fest with a solo set of material performed with three members of Garcia Peoples -- guitarist Tom Malach, bassist Andy Cush, and drummer Cesar Arakaki.

   

As expected, the four sections of this jam are filled with virtuoso performances. It's not always easy to be on point and on fire at 5:30 in the afternoon, but the quartet definitely held everyone's attention as the sky slowly began to darken outside the venue.

Buy Drew's latest solo album here.

   

Recording information:

DREW GARDNER

2024-05-11

Milwaukee Psych Fest

Drew Gardner: guitar

Tom Malach: guitar

Andy Cush: bass

Cesar Arakaki: drums

Setlist:

01 Rabbit Ears > Garden Eels > Conch Shell > Marie Sharp’s 

Total time = 41:27

microphones: Line Audio OM1 omni pair in A-B

additional source: Soundboard feed

software: Audacity, xAct

downloads:

16bit, 44.kHz FLAC files (223 MB)

these lossless files can be burned to CDR, if you are into that

320 kbps mp3 files (128 MB)

highest quality lossy mp3 files possible 

Elkhorn at the Milwaukee Psych Fest on April 13, 2019

So here we have one of several posts that I thought I had already posted. My sincere apologies to Jesse Sheppard and Drew Gardner over the delay in posting these audio files which I had finished working on several months ago. 

Elkhorn was one of several highlights of this year's MPF for me -- both their afternoon performance at Acme Records as well as this evening performance at the outdoor tent were peak psychedelic-folk masterpieces that will stay with me a long time.

The pair said they enjoyed coming to the fest and "doing the Wisconsin thing" -- their generosity with thanking people and just being good guys in general made me hope they do the Wisconsin thing every year.

psychedelic lightshow level 10

how the lightshow was made

I utilized my Beyerdynamic MC930 (cardioid) microphones in an ORTF stereo configuration at the back of the tent on a pole about 10 feet in the air. There was a soundboard feed provided by Max, a local sound guy who does great sound. I failed to "arm" channels 3 and 4 on my Sound Devices MixPre-6 recorder, so even though the levels showed up on the screen, the soundboard signals weren't recorded. One lives, one learns. The 930s are fantastic microphones however, and despite a tiny amount of audience chatter at times, the recording is excellent.

The files were mixed, trimmed and gentle compression and careful EQ were applied using Audacity. The files were extracted to ALAC (lossless compression) and mp3 format using xAct.

Please support these two superb musicians and excellent human beings by seeing their live shows, buying multiple copies of their great merchandise (your friends are starving for great music -- why aren't you buying them music?), and talking to them respectfully after shows unless they look tired or something.

https://www.elkhornmusic.com

https://elkhorn.bandcamp.com

http://feedingtuberecords.com/artists/elkhorn/

downloads (click on the description to download):

16bit, 44.1kHz WAV file (351 MB)

suitable for burning to CD

16bit, 44.1kHz ALAC file (199 MB)

lossless copy of the wav file - can also be burned to CD or played on your iPhone

320kbps mp3 file (80 MB)

highest quality version of this lossy but popular audio file format

Elkhorn with special guests at Acme Records and Music Emporium in Milwaukee on April 13, 2019

One of the unexpected effects of having the annual and amazing Milwaukee Psych Fest occurring this year during the same weekend which also contains the hectic shopping day known as "Record Store Day" was that we were treated to afternoon performances by two bands who would be playing at the Psych Fest proper that evening: the always dependably creative and super-psychedelic Dire Wolves, and the powerful guitar duo known as Elkhorn.

My photo from the mixing area. Note Andrew Lyon in front getting some photos for the blog.

Elkhorn has made a name for itself over the past few years for releasing fascinating albums of great music. They have a sense of humor (one CD collected seven live versions of the song "Lionfish" for those late night compare-and-contrast sessions) and a sense of timing -- two new vinyl releases the week of this mini tour which brought them to Chicago and Bloomington, IN, in addition to the true home of live music in the US (Milwaukee).

photo by Andrew Lyon. Note the guy in back looking unshaven and confused near the mixer.

How to best describe Elkhorn? I'll pull out a trick from my days as a music journalist (and don't for a second think they're not still doing this) -- I'll quote the press materials without shame: "Folk/psych-rock guitar duo featuring Jesse Sheppard on twelve-string acoustic and Drew Gardner on electric, interweaving the extended folk tradition with psychedelic improvisation, moving freely from pre-rock to post-rock, from the 1860s to the 1960s and beyond."  What's missing from the description is that Jesse and Drew have a gift for memorable melodies and a knack for complicating things up until to just before the breaking point before they return to the hook. They are an excellent example of the kind of music that pleases both the casual fan and the elitist critic. 

I did not really expect to be the "sound guy" at this show (or at the following Dire Wolves performance) but there was no one else willing or able to do it and i was not going to ask to record a band and then say, "Hey I can't help you, you'll just have to play some chords and then lean over and set the gain on the store's mixer. While I watch." 

So, I was the sound guy. I had a pair of Beyerdynamic MC930 cardioid microphones in an ORTF stereo configuration up front on stage about 18 inches in the air to capture the acoustic sound of the guitar as well as some of the players on stage during the song with special guests. I obtained a stereo feed from the mixer which was identical to what was being fed to the speakers. These were recorded with the amazing Sound Devices MixPre6 in 24bit/96kHz glory. I mixed these four channels in Audacity to form what is known (incorrectly) to tapers as a "matrix" recording. A few small moments of silence between songs were removed with care in Audacity and xAct was used to encode into ALAC and mp3 formats.

As my photo below will attest, Jesse and Drew asked a couple of the members of Dire Wolves to perform on the last song. It was a great moment of controlled chaos and I thought it was incredible that they were able to produce such beauty together. 

Please support these two superb musicians and excellent human beings by seeing their live shows, buying multiple copies of their great merchandise (your friends are starving for great music -- why aren't you buying them music?), and talking to them respectfully after shows. 

https://www.elkhornmusic.com

https://elkhorn.bandcamp.com

http://feedingtuberecords.com/artists/elkhorn/

downloads:

16bit, 44.1kHz WAV file (410 MB)

suitable for burning to compact disc

16bit, 44.1kHz ALAC file (216 MB)

a lossless, full resolution  file which can be used to burn a CD or to listen to on an iPhone or other Apple product

320kbps mp3 file (93 MB)

the highest quality setting for this popular lossy audio format