When an extremely popular newgrass band like the Kitchen Dwellers announces a surprise release, an air of anticipation is created.
So it is that the Bozeman Montana-bred band, consisting of Shawn Swain (mandolin), Torrin Daniels (banjo), Joe Funk (upright bass), and Max Davies (guitar), along with trumpeter Eric “Benny” Bloom of the band Lettuce, are releasing an unexpected offering on No Coincidence Records was actually begun in 2021. The fact that its origins date back nearly five years clearly adds to the intrigue.
“We are excited to share The Katabatic EP,” the band stated in a press release accompanying the announcement. “These songs are a snapshot of late November 2021. The four of us went into the studio just after Thanksgiving to lay down some tracks. We had recorded Wise River earlier that year and had yet to begin work on Seven Devils, but we had some ideas we wanted to capture. The three-song EP covers a lot of ground in a short sprint. The source of the inspiration for these songs can be found in Montana where we were spending some downtime before the holidays. There’s a juxtaposition in these songs, just like the weather and geography in Montana, or the styles of the four friends who created this small collection of music.”
Ordinarily, a self-produced three-song EP doesn’t preclude the promise of anything exceptionally consequential. And yet, it’s a mark of this profoundly proficient ensemble that each of these tracks allows for an unexpected encounter. The title track itself switches styles throughout. An extended instrumental that comes across as both intimate and expressive all at the same time, it shifts tone and tempo from its fanciful beginning to an exceptionally intricate outlay. Madison, the track that follows, conveys more of an easy loping rhythm with a sound similar to English folk rock combos such as Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. It affirms the fact that the origins of Appalachia are indeed found in the British Isles.
The final offering, Mimas and Ida, ends the album on an emphatic surge, its rapid-fire strum confirming the power and precision that’s consistently at the band’s command.
Its brevity aside, The Katabatic EP is nothing less than an absolutely essential acquisition. It’s a major milestone and further affirmation of the fact that the Kitchen Dwellers have ascended to the top tier of today’s progressive bluegrass elite. Ambitious, adventurous and, yes, wholly unexpectedly, it’s among the band’s crowning achievements.
