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Midtown Dickens began as a ragtag, learn-while-you-play duo of best friends Kym Register and Catherine Edgerton. The project was born in the post-industrial blues town of Durham, NC when the pair began collecting orphaned instruments from generous friends and back alley dumpsters. They developed an unrefined brand of punk-folk that drew from old time bluegrass and the anti-folk minimalism of the Pacific Northwest. After an off-the-cuff two-month tour, the duo released Oh Yell! (307 Knox Records), which garnered wide praise and a cult following for its spirited and charming odes to the wonders of everyday life.
Eager to include more friends in the project, the pair rallied a DIT (Do-It-Together) front-porch collective of players who shared instruments such as the banjo, accordion, musical saw, trumpet, trombone, guitar, drums, mandolin, upright bass, harmonica, glockenspiel, spoons, and whatever else was lying around. The band soon solidified into a cohesive quintet, embarking on a darker and more extensive exploration of folk music, while still rooted in the earnest songwriting of Kym and Catherine.
The group entered the studio last spring with acclaimed producer Scott Solter (The Mountain Goats, Pattern is Movement, John Vanderslice) to record Lanterns, a record about letting go of the things we think we need.
Lanterns was self-released on September 15th, 2009, in a multi-media package containing a vinyl record, CD, MP3 download code and a 16-page booklet with a full 12"x12" panel dedicated to each song on the record. Created by also-artist Catherine Edgerton, the collages of lyrics, photos and drawings illuminate the themes, memories and philosophies that helped create each song.
PRESS:
Independent Weekly's Album of the Month
Independent Weekly
News & Observer
Venus Magazine Band of the Month
Email us @ midtowndickens (at) gmail.com
Midtown Dickens - Lanterns
Self Released
Order from Trekky Records Online Store
Download from iTunes
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Available at Bull City Records, CD Alley, Backbeat and Schoolkids!
Independent Weekly's 2009 Top 10 Triangle Albums: "Now, it's perfect—professional but comfortable, accomplished without being polished.this magnificent next step is a tender-hearted, attitude-filled proclamation—of self-reliance, of new challenges, of burning fears for fuel."
-The Independent
WKNC's 2009 top 10 Triangle Albums: "Grab the album and take a seat because listening to Lanterns might knock you flat out "
-WKNC 88.1, Raleigh
"Without sacrificing the sense of spontaneous fun that makes many of its songs worth a dozen drably proficient indie rock curtsies, Midtown Dickens has started to take their music a bit more seriously.It's as if the group's increased musical proficiency gave them the confidence to lay more on the line lyrically, too. They play better, sing better, say better."
-The Independent
"On the new album Lanterns, the band takes the playground twee of such singers as Kimya Dawson and hitches it to the power of a true mountain band."
-The Daily Tar Heel
"Midtown Dickens has grown far, raising the bar for themselves on Lanterns, an album brimming with energetic down home numbers that boast a small army of instruments lending the whole a colorful tapestry. It's as fun as it is heartwarming."
-Bootleg Magazine
Midtown Dickens - Oh Yell!
307 Knox Records
Order CD from 307 Knox
Order LP from 307 Knox
Download from iTunes
Download from Amazon
"Toss in poppy melodies, some singalong choruses, and a bucket-load of fun, and this duo will indeed have you yelling for more. "
-4.5 Stars: All Music Guide
"There's nothing perfect about Midtown Dickens except everything."
-The Independent Weekly
"These girls are the real deal, playing music they want to play and having a good time doing it."
-Nonalighment Pact
"Unrelentingly humorous, thoughtful and poignant."
-Rebel Girl
"All in all, there's an under-produced, rusty knife, kick-the-can style that is infectious here."
-Left of the Dial
"Midtown Dickens create a bouncy, adorable sound that is effortlessly intimate."
-Durham Rock City
"Their goofball folk half-conceals a pair of big hearts fully willing to lay themselves bare."
-Triangle Rock
"Playful, poppy freak-folk with lo-fi production and a DIY ethic."
-Venus Magazine
"Astoundingly catchy melodies, impressively varied instrumentation and markedly poignant moments."
-The Daily Tar Heel
