In the waning days of summer in 2014, we purchased a wasted acre of land on an ambling road in rural Galien, Michigan. As we embarked on a multi-year project to restore this patch of land and see what we could make of a life out in the countryside, we knew from the outset that we wanted to create a multi-purpose space capable of accommodating a wide range of activities, people, and gatherings. With this in mind as we designed our home, we made half of the house one large open room that we call The Storehouse and began hosting events on New Year's Day 2017. The premise is simple: invite people over, ask them to bring a dish or a bottle to share and cash for the artists, and infuse the space with community, art, and a sense of ease. We find that house concerts are a perfect vehicle for these goals.

As the initial coronavirus shutdown descended upon all of our lives in March 2020, cancelling tours for many of the musicians we are lucky to consider our closest friends and venues of all shapes and sizes closing their doors, the audacity of inviting 70+ people into our home became a relic of a way of living that was indefinitely put on hold in an instant. What does an era of social distancing mean for a project with community at its core? It’s a question we’ll be trying to answer for the foreseeable future. One thing we know to be as true today as any is that community and nurturing a sense of belonging is critical to the mission of everything we do at The Storehouse and beyond…and it’s the only way we’re all going to make it to the other side of these strange and uncertain times.

With that in mind, we decided to create this compilation of previously unreleased and new music to provide a bit of financial support to many of the musicians who have contributed to The Storehouse series. It features original compositions, live recordings from Storehouse concerts, rehearsal outtakes, improvised sketches, and heartfelt covers. In its own small way, we hope this comp asserts the importance foregrounding art, community, experimentation, and pleasure as an everyday necessity - even in the midst of a global pandemic.

You can purchase the digital album for $10 on Bandcamp and all of the proceeds from Bandcamp purchases will go directly to the musicians and a portion donated to Music Maker Relief Foundation.

TRACKLIST:

Steve Gunn & William Tyler - Amps

Meg Baird - To Lay Me Down (rehearsal)

Nathan Salsburg - Eili, Eili

Sue Garner with Rick Brown, Che Chen & Talice Lee - This Is How We Walk On The Moon (live)

Mind Over Mirrors - Sulphur Firedot

Bill MacKay - Grapes On The Vine

Joan Shelley - (Remember Me) I'm The One Who Loves You

Natural Information Society - Ophiuchus (Detroit Live)

James Elkington - Visa Från Utanmyra

Erik Hall - Minor Loops

75 Dollar Bill - Drive It On (live)

Gunn-Truscinski Duo - Banh Mi Ringtones (live)

Sachiko Kanenobu - Music Carries Me On (demo)

Produced by Penny Duff and Michael Slaboch
Mastered by Erik Hall
Artwork by Chuck
Layout by Field of Grass
SH-001, 2020