MASON PORTER

Saturday we are playing at the 49th annual Philadelphia Folk Festival. We are incredibly excited and honored to be a part of the festival. Headliners include Jeff Tweedy and Taj Mahal. We will be playing on the WXPN stage hosted by Helen Leicht along with some great local acts including Tin Bird Choir, Ben Arnold and more. Set time 1:15pm.

To celebrate the occasion, we have put together Story of the Rifle, an album comprised of traditional folk and cover songs limited to 50 copies. The album was recorded live over the weekend of June 12th and 13th, 2010, at Second Story Sound Studios by engineer Mike Bardzic. It was mixed by Bill Moriarty and mastered by Carl Staff. The songs on the album reflect what has bound us together as musicians and friends for four years now. The songs also represent a deep appreciation for the great songs and songwriters of the past and present who have inspired us and our craft. The CD will be available in the merchandise tent at the festival Friday though Sunday or while supplies last.

Here is an interview with Philly Weekly about the album.

Here are a couple tracks to download for free:
Creole Belle
Wayfaring Stranger

Go over to our myspace page to hear some newly posted tracks.

Up In The Hills
A Paul song, recorded live with the trio.

Old Freight Train
A Joe Song, features Brad Hinton on dobro, Kiley Ryan on fiddle, and Tom Hamilton on drums.

Waiting For The World
A Tim song, features Brad Hinton on 5-string banjo

Joaquin Murietta
A Joe song, features Kiley Ryan on violin, Nate Gonzalez on accordion and Tom Hamilton on drums

The Thunder In The Valley CD Release Party is Dec. 19th at the Blinkin’ Lincoln!

The album release is getting close and we are very excited! The CD Release Party is Dec 19th at The Blinkin’ Lincoln in Manayunk, PA. In the mean time we wanted to share some more info about it with you. The album is titled Thunder In The Valley and will be released on Uncle Nicky Records. Below is the album cover and track list. The album art was designed by Teil Wise and the inside features photography from Lisa Schaffer.

1. Hard Luck and Trouble
2. Up In The Hills
3. I Belong
4. Radio
5. Waiting For The World
6. Old Freight Train
7. Out On The Night’s Wing
8. Hangman
9. Joaquin Murietta
10. Thunder In The Valley
11. nowhere
12. Snow Angel
13. Delta Queen

Upcoming Shows:
Neil Young Tribute at The Fire -11/12
The Beach House - Thanksgiving Leftover Potluck -11/29
Baltimore and Norfolk - 12/4 and 12/5
Gene Shay Folk Show (88.5 WXPN) - 12/13
And of course, the CD Release Party at the Blinkin’ Lincoln -12/19
More under TOUR

While we are waiting patiently for the release of our full length CD on Dec. 19th we have a little surprise for you. Actually it’s not that little, it’s bigger than a CD, it’s a 7in record! Our friend Colin Helb just started up Uncle Nicky Records and the first release is a 7in vinyl with two songs, Mason Porter – A Little Bit of Light and Chris Kasper – Up In My Head. We totally excited to have some vinyl and to be part of Uncle Nicky. For now we have them for sale at shows. Supplies are limited so get yours soon. You can listen to our song on our myspace page. http://myspace.com/masonporter

Upcoming Shows:
Friday, October 23rd The Flash w/ Danny Paisley
Friday, November 6th Chester County Historical Society
Saturday, December 19th Blinkin’ Lincoln CD RELEASE PARTY!!!

Chicken and Porter is the delicious combination you get when you cross the seven members of Wissahickon Chicken Shack with the four of us in Mason Porter. Back in September both bands played in Wind Gap, PA at the AFBA Shindig. Chicken and Porter had been occurring in smaller informal settings and late night jams for several months but this time we decided to take the stage in full force. The result was one hell of a good time.

Thanks for Brian Pierce of Aimless Pursuit for putting up with us while he was doing sound and for recording it; and for the AFBA for being a great bunch of people and supporting our bands.

Take a listen to a few of the tracks below.

Chicken Shack will be joining us again Dec. 12th at the Brickette, you can most certainly expect some Chicken and Porter that night!

Who Broke The Lock
I am a Pilgrim
Lay My Burden Down
Mountain Dew

Here’s a track from the Tin Angel in Philadelphia a few months back in June. It’s a three song medley of Vice Rag > Spike Drivers Blues > If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day. Vice Rag is an A.A. Bondy tune; who happened to be playing right next door at the Khyber that night. Jesse being a big Bondy fan wanted to go to the show, but we were already booked so he decided to do a Bondy tune in our set.

We made a few new friends that night too; we learned that this past weekend when they drove from Philly out to the West Chester to see us. Thanks, we hope you enjoyed the “World Famous” Brickette Lounge!

It’s not the greatest sound quality but we hope you’ll enjoy it anyway.

1. Vice Rag > Spike Drivers Blues > If I Had Possession Over Judgment

We are very excited to announce the official release of the debut Mason Porter CD!!! In January Mason Porter spent a few days at MilkBoy Recording Studio in Ardmore, PA. We came away with a six song EP that we couldn’t be happier with. We brought on board our friend Tom Hamilton (American Babies, Brothers Past) as producer for the project. In combination with engineer Cody Cichowski they did an amazing job getting us to play and sound our best. Cody and Joel Metzler mixed the CD at MilkBoy this past spring.

The CD is now available at CDBaby.com, here on the Mason Porter website and at our shows. A little later this summer the CD will be available on Itunes and a number of other popular download sites.

The track list is as follows:
1. After The Day Is Done
2. If Whiskey Don’t Kill Me
3. Cold Rain
4. Ruby
5. The Ballad Of Ann Cotton
6. Coming Home

This is really a milestone for us and the list of people we want to thank is very long. First and foremost our families and friends who give us constant support. We are forever grateful for them and we could never do this without them. The folks at MilkBoy (Cody, Joel, Tommy, Jamie, Tom, Patty, Joe, Tim , etc.). Tom Hamilton. All of the venues who have welcomed us in the past year especially MIlkBoy Coffee, the Brickette Lounge, Steel City, The Fire, Dawson Street Pub, and the Tin Angel. All of the bands we have been honored to share the stage with especially our friends Hoots and Hellmouth and Wissahickon Chicken Shack.