thanks | devin copfer, violin

When we decided that we wanted to track a quartet on the new record, I turned to Devin to make that possible. Devin is a violinist and songwriter, but Devin is also someone to look up to in the city for how she treats music and the people who play it.

Devin plays in bands. Devin writes songs, plays, and sings in Small Songs - one of my favorite local bands. She was a core piece of Oliver Oak - one of my first favorite bands in Columbus when I moved here. She’s also in Fables. They have a new single here. And also BABS and also Waves de Ache.

Devin plays chamber music. She’s a past or current member of the Ohio State Symphony Orchestra, Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra, McConnell Arts Center Chamber Orchestra, Newark Granville Synphony Orchestra, and Columbus’ new Janus String quartet with OSU Prof Mark Rudoff, Nancy Nehring, and Leah Anderson.

Devin plays things in between those that break down fourth walls that allow people to connect with music that they don’t experience often. This is Chamber Brews, where they present classical music in a relaxed atmosphere and have conversations to bridge the gap between performance and audience members. It’s one of a kind, and one of a kind things should be supported. You can donate to their mission here.

And, finally, Devin teaches other people to do all of the things above using the Suzuki method within lessons at Musicologie. If you have a kiddo interested in violin, you should send them to Devin. These are her words.

“Through music lessons, we not only get to know our playing, but we get to know ourselves… We understand that success doesn’t come from outcome, but rather from our journey — and we get to learn how to play the violin as well!”

Devin - thanks much for wrangling a wonderful quartet, leading that session like a pro, and being a shining example of a Columbus musician that we’re all lucky enough to share space with.

thanks | leah anderson, violin

Leah played violin on the record. She describes herself as a part-time freelance violinist, full-time microbiologist. This only makes sense when you find out that she studied both Molecular Genetics and Violin Performance at OSU.

It quickly stops making sense when you realize that she studied both Molecular Genetics and Violin at the same time.

And she’s apparently great at both! I can vouch for the violin. I can’t provide any personal evidence on the microbiology front - but she works for OSU - so I’m assuming she’s killing it.

She also plays violin in OSU’s new Janus String Quartet alongside Mark Rudoff (OSU cello Professor), Nancy Nehring (viola), and Devin Copfer (violin, who also played on the record).

On studio day, she mentioned that she’d never done a non-classical session before our day in the studio - but would do it again if we ever needed. I’ve never done a microbiology session ever!

Thank you, Leah! Thanks for the great session and being an inspiring example of someone with a rich and diverse life. Go bucks.

listen to a new song | watch a new video

Listen to it on Spotify, or watch the video on youtube. It is about a woman I saw on a plane one time.

Who made this?

Sam Emerson Bodary: song, guitar, vocals
Jack Keating Doran: piano, vocals
Daniel Lawrence Seibert: percussion, synthesizer, string and horn arrangement
Eli Chambers: bass
Erin Mason: vocals
Lee Tucker: trumpet
Zach Zerkle: trombone
Leah Anderson: violin
Devin Copfer: violin
Rachael Keplin: viola
Stephen Forster: cello
Corbin Pratt: pedal steel
Tony Rice: engineering
Emily Schmidt: engineering
Glenn Davis: mixing
Mike Cervantes at The Foxboro: mastering
Art: Dru Batte
And the Emersingers: Andrew Marczak (The Roof Dogs), Will Myers (Rat Dreams), Carrie Stratton, Cameron Carr (Trying), Brady Costigan (Trying, Stock Photo Family), Reece Thompson (Thirty-One West), Max Orr, Kristi Lawrence, Regina Squeri, Jack Doran, Andrew Picklesimer (Embers of Arson), Ira Harper, Scott Woodward (The Antique Smugglers), Anita Doran, Monaé James, Lyndsey Andray, Melissa Bethea, Jesse Bethea, Philippe “Devin XO / Devin Summers” Laroque, Therese Rajasekera, Gregory Nagy, Ryan Branch, Lee Ann McBride, Ethan Borman, Hannah Margolis, Miles Meckling, Taylor Gleason, Mandar Kathe, Sam Craighead, Phil Liddell, and Brink.

---

What are the lyrics?

Never left the state

But she’s flying to Oregon

Rekindled her Arkansas

High school boyfriend

It’s been 15 years

Since they’ve even held hands

And she’s telling this all to her seatmates

She’s nervous on planes

And maybe in general

She’s chomping on chewing gum

Got thoughts on millennial

Sons 16 and 20

She left them at home

And she’s sitting in seat 16B

The fasten seatbelt signal is bright

And these people are traveling all day and night

We land at three

Hopefully

There’s a first time for everything

My ex husband’s fine

He’s a natural father

He works in IT

And he’s got a stepdaughter

I think I could be at least one half as happy

Does my makeup still look ok

She undoes her seatbelt

She walks to the bathroom

We look at each other

And breathe in her perfume

And think

And we think

And we think

The fasten seatbelt signal is bright

And some people act busy even up in the sky

Look at me

I believe

There’s a first time for everything

And we’re all on her side as she gets up to leave

And we tell her good luck but it’s not guaranteed

And we look at each other and we want to believe

The fasten seatbelt signal is bright

And these people seem earnest but might not be right

And then she leaves

Hopefully

There’s a first time for everything

There’s a first time for everything

thanks | caleb miller, clarinet and organ

Caleb Miller was a joy to work with on a few different pieces of the record. In Midwest, he plays the organ. It was a part that we added in a bit later in the process, but we found that it really stuck the strings to the track and helped them sit in the mix.

Caleb plays almost everything with almost everybody. He’s high energy, very excitable, and always ready to hop in on a session.

Caleb is in the bands Radarhill, Sun Trash, and Knots. He also plays in Francis Bacon Band, Ryan Jewell Quintet, Mosses, Fables, Sean Marshall, Keating, and also with Amy Gadd sometimes.

Obviously, the dude doesn’t stop. So, pick a link above and give something of his a listen. Whether he’s on clarinet, saxophone, or keyboard - he’s gonna play something worth hearing.

Thanks, Caleb!

thanks | corbin pratt, pedal steel

A few things about Corbin Pratt.

He can play the pedals off of the pedal steel, but he doesn’t let it get to his head. He is a remarkable listener - the way that he responds to the music around him is always pitch-perfect. He can be subtle but isn’t bashful when he wants to dig in and take the spotlight.

The point is - he can pretty much do anything, but is tastefully restrained, especially when painting his parts across our (frankly pretty busy) palate of strings, horns, and everything else. He played on the last record, and we had to have him back.

Corbin tracked all of his parts this year from a friend’s basement in Nashville - he moved down there with his wife and son just a few weeks before recording. So, a few weeks into March, we got a bunch of tracks in a Google Drive. It was like Christmas morning, opening up and listening through each take to piece together our favorite bits.

Corbin took the instrumental break in Midwest. Listen to that - and you’ll agree that we made the right choice having him back on the team. There’s more of his work lathered across a few other songs on the record, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Corbin - thanks so much for your time, talent, and consideration. Sending our best to little Santiago as well!

thanks | jake loew, banjo and mandolin

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!

"Am I the Midwest?" streaming everywhere | also a music video

Stream it on Spotify (or preferred music service), and watch the video below.

If you’re curious, read below for some context behind the track.

---

from The Guardian

some context behind the track

In 2018, we were on tour in Germany. On Monday, August 27th, we played at a small cafe in Chemnitz. It wasn’t a good night to be in Chemnitz - there was a big anti-immigration protest outside, and it wasn’t safe to be out the street. The promoter made sure the show was a safe place for folks to be amidst all of that. You can read more about that night at The Guardian - but this screenshot of the article is really the core nugget. A few days later, we were interviewed on the radio in Berlin - the conversation touched on anti-immigration movements in both of our countries and what we do to combat it. It was an odd moment where I was asked to explain myself as a resident of the Midwest under Trump to a nationwide German audience. You’re welcome to listen to that interview on the blog.

Many of our conversations on tour were about guns, Trump, and racism - mostly because that’s what the word “Ohio” meant to most people we met. But I also talked about much of the good that I see in my home state and many unseen small acts of kindness. And I don’t think that remotely saves the state or absolves it of its sins - but what else can we do but try earnestly to make something a bit better.

This song struggles to hold all of those feelings together at the same time, kind of like I do.

---

lyrics

Am I the Midwest
The one we read about
The one they send the reporters 
To cross the state borders 
Just to figure the people out

Am I the Midwest
The one we sing about
All pockmarked with dairy queens
State football dreams and universities towns

Am I the Midwest
The one we blame
The one we castigate
The one we shame
The one that shows up
On time at eight
The one we love
The one we hate

Am I the Midwest
The one they photograph 
After Delphi leaves and the workers grieving 
Become another think piece

Am I the Midwest
The one they interview 
On the radio stations 
In the European nations 
Where Americana still feels new

Am I the Midwest
The one that blames
The one that speaks up 
Two years too late
The one that shows up 
On election day
The one that votes
The one that hates

Am I the Midwest
The plain-spoken grout between the coasts
Am I the Midwest
Home of miniature golf and self-conscious boasts
Am I the Midwest 
Home of jersey cows in stallion shoes
Am I the Midwest
The one in the news

---

credits

Sam Bodary: acoustic guitar and vocals

Daniel Seibert: percussion and string arrangement

Jack Doran: piano

Eli Chambers: bass

Leah Anderson: violin

Devin Copfer: violin

Rachael Keplin: viola

Stephen Forster: cello

Caleb Miller: organ

Jake Lowe: banjo

Corbin Pratt: pedal steel

Tony Rice: engineering and production

Emily Schmidt: engineering

Glenn Davis: mixing

Mike Cervantes (The Foxboro): mastering

Recorded at Oranjudio in Columbus, Ohio

---

post script

Small things do help. Our last record release show was a benefit for Community Refugee and Immigration Services - our next one will be too. But you can always donate anytime. I’m also a big fan of libraries - many have read-aloud or homework help programs - Columbus Metro Libraries needs volunteers for both.

thanks | victoria butash

So, I did this thing last record where I wrote a bunch of public thank you notes to everyone who helped out on the album. I’m going to do the same thing this time - but I want to start with a unique person on the eve of the first single.

The second record would not be possible without Victoria Butash - even though she didn’t work on it. But, LP2 wouldn’t exist without LP1, and LP1 wouldn’t exist without Tori.

She was the superhero behind the first record. When I knew next to nothing, she was a lighthouse to point towards the right way to make music with friends. She recorded and mixed nearly everything you hear on the record.

---

Here are a few things about Tori.

She’s a killer sound engineer - that’s her bread and butter. But on this project, she was also a killer producer. Her artistic guidance was invaluable from recording through mixing.

She has an unparalleled work ethic - in everything, but also in music. She combines technical know-how with a knack for in the moment problem-solving (personnel problems included). She was with us for 48-hour recording sprints at Oranjudio and a marathon of mixing and revisions in the months to follow. She treated me, and everyone, with respect through the whole process.

This all collapses into one thing - Tori is a role model. She taught me some basic lessons in how to speak clearly for what you believe in, treat people with dignity and professionalism (especially when they are volunteering their expertise at a steep discount), and how to take accountability for everything within your control. She taught me a lot about being a leader, including when to get out of the way so your collaborators can do what they’re best at.

Tori is touring the country running live sound for big bands that make records I love - because of course she is. She’s killing it. For all the above reasons. This is what she’s great at.

---

One of my favorite things about the first record is how the acoustic guitar sounds. Tori tried a few different mic techniques, including hanging one just over my shoulder, pointing down towards the guitar. Whenever I hear the guitar on Travel, the sound still floors me. That’s thanks to Tori.

Thanks, Tori. Cheers to the future.

an amazing message from a stranger | a new song on friday

I’ve been reflecting on how the last record was received and trying hard not to take anything for granted as we prep for another release. I’ve been keeping two things in mind as I do this.

First - more people listened to our first record than I ever thought would. I peeked into our stats and found the big number to the left - that’s amazing. But when I looked a little deeper, it got a bit more amazing.

Spotify shows you the playlists that you’re on - and the ones you’re not on. We were never put on any big Editorial Spotify playlists, but listeners put us on over 1,600 playlists. Because of that, some of the Algorithm-based playlists picked us up and shared us around - but that wouldn’t have happened without a bunch of people making playlists with our songs.

For that - I am deeply grateful. Thank you very much for listening to and sharing our songs!

---

Tess from instagram

The second thing I’ve been keeping in mind is based on a message I received the other day on Instagram. You can read it, then freak out like me.

“Hello! This is random but I had an assignment in class today where I had to pick an album that I never get sick of and I immediately knew I wanted to pick Above The Floorboards. That question made me realize how important your music has been to me for the past 4 years. So I wanted to thank you, because it feels like no matter what I go through I can always come back to your music and that means a lot.”

We made someone’s high school record.

We made someone’s high school record.

We made someone’s high school record.

We made someone’s high school record!!!!!

I had records that I loved in high school. I still love them, mostly for the same reasons. The records that I loved in high school carried me through difficult years and hard lessons and just plain loneliness. The records that I loved in high school shaped my love of records in general. They shaped the kinds of songs that I gravitate to today. My high school records were by The Mountain Goats, The Decemberists, Local Natives, The National, and Bright Eyes. They were by The Tallest Man on Earth, LCD Soundsystem, St. Vincent, and Jackson Browne. They were by Michael Kiwanuka, Sharon Van Etten, Arcade Fire, and Sufjan Stevens. They were by The Magnetic Fields, Frontier Ruckus, Blind Pilot, and Bon Iver. They were by Ezra Furman. They were by Fionn Regan.

Those songs helped me understand myself and songs at large. But I only had the opportunity to talk to a few of them to say thank you. So, it’s amazing to think that (1) we had that kind of impact on a real human person and (2) we would never have known if they didn’t reach out to say something.

---

This is where the metrics conversation breaks away and I get a little less anxious about our new release.

I care about a lot of people hearing our new record - but only because I think that 0.01% of the people that hear it might find it really important and helpful, like our high school pal on Instagram. So, heck, I’m excited to share the first song next Friday. Maybe more people will listen than last time - maybe fewer people will listen. Maybe I’ll be needlessly embarrassed - maybe I’ll be overly prideful.

Regardless, I think I’ll focus on this small message from a stranger. I think I’d like to hope that some of these songs will find long-term homes in a few people, providing some sense of solace in a hard time or sweetener in an easy time - and something to reminisce on at a later time.

Wow, I love songs.

The first single of our second record comes out in exactly one week. We finished it in the Spring, and I’m just plain delighted to share it. If you like it, share it with someone or put it on a playlist.

Or just send a message my way.

release dates | planting our feet

This is a video announcement that we will release our first single via Anyway Records and K&F Records on November 22, 2019.

Be sure to sign up for emails and follow on spotify to make sure you don’t miss it.

More soon.

Sam