''Silver Ladder'' is an album by American

singer/songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted thr ...

Peter Mulvey Peter Mulvey (born September 6, 1969) is an American folk singer-songwriter based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since the early 1990s, he has developed a strong national following in the indie folk/rock scene through his relentless touring and critic ...

, released in 2014. ''Silver Ladder'' was the first album released by Mulvey after a five-year hiatus from songwriting due to personal issues. He decided to write one song a week and collected enough to record the album. The basic tracks were recorded live over two-and-a-half days followed by overdubs.

Reception

Writing for the ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', Joe Breen called the album "impressive" and wrote that although Mulvey "can go overboard... he compensates." Martin Chilton of ''The Telegraph'' called the album "grown-up country" and wrote that Mulvey had excelled himself. Jason Noble of CultureFly called the album "not a bad return, but it’s not likely to set the world on fire" and wrote "The songs are decent enough, but do suffer from a lack of impact at times, and a little more variation would help..." The ''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'' placed the album 7th in its year-end review of the top 10 best albums of 2014 in Milwaukee.

Track listing

All songs by Peter Mulvey unless noted. # "Lies You Forgot You Told" – 2:24 # "You Don't Have to Tell Me" – 2:29 # "Sympathies" – 2:32 # "Remember the Milkman?" (Mulvey, Matt Lorenz) – 2:47 # "What Else Was It?" – 3:40 # "Trempealeau" – 3:15 # "Where Did You Go?" (Mulvey, David Goodrich, Barry Rothman) – 3:41 # "Josephine" – 2:58 # "Back in the Wind" (Mulvey, Paul Cebar) – 2:55 # "Copenhagen Airport" – 2:25 # "If You Shoot at a King You Must Kill Him" – 4:25 # "Landfall" – 1:07

Personnel

- vocals, acoustic guitar *Anita Suhanin – vocals *

Sara Watkins Sara Ullrika Watkins (born June 8, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and fiddler. Watkins debuted in 1989 as the fiddler of Nickel Creek, the progressive bluegrass group she formed with her brother Sean and mandolinist Chris Thile. In addi ...

– violin, vocals *James DePrato – guitar *

Tom Freund Tom Freund (born August 28, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Freund's music consists of elements of folk rock, americana and alternative rock. Freund met Ben Harper when he was attending Pitzer College in Clarem ...

– bass * Aidan Hawken – guitar, keyboards, vocals *

David Kemper David Law Kemper (born 1947/8 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American rock drummer who was a member of the Jerry Garcia Band (1983–1994) and Bob Dylan's band (1996–2001). He was with the Jerry Garcia Band from 1983 until January 1994, when he w ...

– drums *Phil Parlapiano – accordion *

Chuck Prophet Charles William Prophet (born June 28, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. A Californian, Prophet first achieved notice in the American psychedelic/desert rock group Green on Red, with whom he toured and rec ...

– drums, guitar, vocals

Production notes

*Aidan Hawken – producer *Chuck Prophet – producer * Dan Burns – engineer, mixing * Ian Kennedy – mastering * Andy Plaisted – engineer * Meghan Dewar – design * Hartwig Kopp-Delaney – cover photo

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silver Ladder 2014 albums Peter Mulvey albums