Jake Loew played banjo on Am I the Midwest? and mandolin on another song on the record. He was a suggestion from Corbin Pratt. He was the one other musician who tracked remotely from a different state. He’s a former Columbus guy like Corbin, but we never met in person - just a few nice chats on the phone to get what we were looking for.
He was easy to work with and super accommodating, giving us a bunch of takes to choose from. We were looking for a bluegrass flavor without overpowering the dish - he walked the line perfectly.
His banjo playing does a beautiful job mirroring the string motion on Midwest - and his mandolin break on “Edges & Corners” is SPICY. You can listen to Midwest now, but will have to wait until the whole record comes out on 1/24/2020 to hear “Edges & Corners”.
Hooray for folk instruments! Thanks much, Jake!