''Avalon'' is an album by guitarists

Julian Lage Julian Lage ( ; born December 25, 1987) is an American guitarist and composer. Career A child prodigy, Lage was the subject of the 1996 short documentary film ''Jules at Eight''. At 12, he performed at the 2000 Grammy Awards. Three years later ...

and

Chris Eldridge Chris Eldridge is an American guitarist and singer. He is a member of Punch Brothers and frequently performs in a duo with fellow guitarist Julian Lage. He is also the guitarist in the house band on Live From Here. He was a founding member of the ...

, released in 2014. The album was produced and engineered by Kenneth Pattengale of

The Milk Carton Kids The Milk Carton Kids are an American indie folk duo from Eagle Rock, California, United States, consisting of singers and guitarists Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan, who began making music together in early 2011. The band has recorded and rel ...

and mastered by Dan Millice.Good Guitar, Alec Wilkinson - The New Yorker
It was recorded at the Avalon theatre in

Easton, Maryland Easton is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,945 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population in 2019 of 16,671. The primary ZIP Code is 21601, and the secondary ...

. On the album Lage plays a 000-18 Martin Guitar from 1939, and Eldridge plays a Martin D-18 from 1937. Lage and Eldridge have described the album as a “love letter to the acoustic guitar.”Hear Julian Lage And Chris Eldridge With Gonzalo Bergara From The Crown Guitar Festival - Montana Public Radio
This is the first full-length album that Lage and Eldridge have released together, but they previously put out an EP entitled "Close to Picture" which consisted of original compositions. Avalon has both covers and original songs, and includes instrumentals as well as tracks with vocals by Eldridge.Julian Lage and Punch Brothers' Chris Eldridge to Release 'Avalon' on Oct 7 - Guitar World
Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge: Avalon - Relix
Overlooked Experimental Records 2014 - Pitchfork
JULIAN LAGE AND CHRIS ELDRIDGE PROVIDE 'STEADY PROOF' OF THEIR COLLECTIVE ACOUSTIC PROWESS - The Bluegrass Situation
Guitarists Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge Pick Some Winners - San Francisco Classical Voice
Julian Lage Trio - Carnegie Hall
Spinnaker Radio’s Favorite Albums of 2014 - Spinnaker
Lage is considered to be a jazz guitarist while Eldridge comes from a bluegrass background,
Guitarist Julian Lage's Road From Child Prodigy to Seasoned Pro - Rolling Stone
but the album spans a variety of genres.
Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge - Mount Royal
Bone Collector video from Julian & Chris

Reception

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

said "''Avalon'' is an unfiltered document of the pair’s live set, a mix of originals and covers that illustrate the breadth of the American songbook as Lage and Eldridge perceive it, incorporating bluegrass, country, gospel, old-time music and jazz. There was no playback, no overdubs, just the duo’s eloquent, in-the-moment musical repartee".

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

called it "a sophisticated guitar LP that doesn’t sound sophisticated, an effort that folds its intense erudition deep beneath its lovely surface".Cura, G. H
Pitchfork: Chris Eldridge and Julian Lage: Anyone Can Learn Guitar
accessed May 3, 2019

Track listing

# "Stone Cross" (Julian Lage) – 3:33 # "Mean Mother Blues" ( John Starling) – 3:44 # "Keep Me from Blowing Away" (

Paul Craft Paul Charles Craft (August 12, 1938 – October 18, 2014) was an American country singer-songwriter. The Memphis-born Craft was known as the songwriter for Mark Chesnutt's single "Brother Jukebox", and the novelty song "It's Me Again, Margaret", ...

) – 3:52 # "Whiskey Before Breakfast" (Traditional) – 3:42 # "Open up the Window, Noah" (Traditional) – 3:01 # "Wilson's Waltz" (Lage) – 9:04 # " Someone to Watch over Me" (

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

) – 4:18 # "Ginseng Sullivan" ( Norman Blake) – 3:33 # "Steady Proof" (Lage) – 2:59 # "Any Old Time" (

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...

) – 3:42 # "Butter and Eggs" (

Margaret Glaspy Margaret Glaspy is an American singer and songwriter based in New York City. She began playing and living in New York at 21 years old and is currently signed with ATO Records. Her debut full length album ''Emotions and Math'' was self produced ...

) – 3:24

Personnel

– guitar, vocals *

– guitar * Kenneth Pattengale - engineering, production * Dan Millice - mastering

References

{{Authority control 2014 albums Chris Eldridge albums Julian Lage albums