MOUNT ANALOG feat. KARL BLAU -
That's How I Got To Memphis - [IPU118] -
Internet Stream

Does a 7 inch still make waves in today’s ocean of downloads and digipacks and not just fly under the radar? The single "How I Got to Memphis"--that features Karl Blau's salty-sweet voice over the lush, visceral arrangements of Mount Analog--aims to prove POSITIVE by firing this flaming arrow of a 45 across the bow of listenership not for vinyl collectors only. No, this isn't about illuminating the unknown or any creation of dominion, but it's about merging worlds. Early 70's Nashville country intertwines with Northwest indie. Also, whole aesthetic worlds melding: Tucker Martine's larger than life sound with the never-heard-before-without-tape-hiss delivery of Karl Blau.

In this recording, record producer Tucker Martine (the Decemberists, Laura Veirs, Sufjan Stevens, Mudhoney), and his talented cast of Mount Analog--Steve Moore (Earth, Sunn0))))), Jon Hyde, Laura Veirs and Bruce Wirth pay tribute to Nashville style in its classic country aesthetic circa 1972. With Martine having grown up in Nashville, this single could be construed as a shout-out to his songwriter father Layng Martine, Jr. who's songs have been recorded by Elvis, the Pointer Sisters, Bo Diddley, Reba McEntire, Billy "Crash" Craddock and many more. It was the Tom T. Hall version of "That's How I got to Memphis" that first caught Martine's attention as a teenager, but folks like Lee Hazlewood, Buddy Miller and Bobby Bare have all made the song their own since. "I am such a huge fan of Karl's, I knew that he was the one to help our version stay true to the spirit of the original version I loved so much, while shining the light on it from a different angle," Martine states.

This marks the first efforts of Blau as lead vocalist produced by Martine, though they are hardly strangers in the studio. Karl Blau has recorded on such Tucker Martine gems as Laura Veirs’ last three albums: Carbon Glacier, Where Gravity is Dead, and Saltbreakers; Johanna Kunin’s Clouds Electric; Thao Nguyen’s We Brave Beestings and All; as well as the Mount Analog forthcoming release "Quilts."

For Karl Blau, this release follows on the heels of Chicago’s Whistler Records release “AM" and also his Marriage Records title “Dance Positive.” And the release of this single will be followed closely by his K Records full-length “Nature’s Got Away” and also the re-issue of the acclaimed “Shell Collection” 4-track album(Knw-Yr-Own, 1997).