Midtown Dickens

Midtown Dickens began as a ragtag, learn-while-you-play duo of best friends Kym Register and Catherine Edgerton. The project was born in the post-industrial blues town of Durham, NC when the pair began collecting orphaned instruments from generous friends and back alley dumpsters. They developed an unrefined brand of punk-folk that drew from old time bluegrass and the anti-folk minimalism of the Pacific Northwest. After an off-the-cuff two-month tour, the duo released Oh Yell! (307 Knox Records), which garnered wide praise and a cult following for its spirited and charming odes to the wonders of everyday life. Eager to include more friends in the project, the pair rallied a DIT (Do-It-Together) front-porch collective of players who shared instruments such as the banjo, accordion, musical saw, trumpet, trombone, guitar, drums, mandolin, upright bass, harmonica, glockenspiel, spoons, and whatever else was lying around. The band soon solidified into a cohesive quintet, embarking on a darker and more extensive exploration of folk music, while still rooted in the earnest songwriting of Kym and Catherine. The group entered the studio last spring with acclaimed producer Scott Solter (The Mountain Goats, Pattern is Movement, John Vanderslice) to record Lanterns, a record about letting go of the things we think we need. Lanterns was self-released on September 15th, 2009, in a multi-media package containing a vinyl record, CD, MP3 download code and a 16-page booklet with a full 12"x12" panel dedicated to each song on the record. Created by also-artist Catherine Edgerton, the collages of lyrics, photos and drawings illuminate the themes, memories and philosophies that helped create each song. Some stuff some people say: "A Midtown Dickens show is a front-porch parade, gallivanting from off-the-cuff humor to unexpected poignancy, both exuding the same best-friend intimacy." - Bryan Reed, The Independent Weekly “Lo-fi the Dickens may well be, but name an instrument from banjo to piano, trombone to bass, and these Dickens can play it. . . .Like precocious kids, they’ll shoot out a lyric that just makes your jaw drop. Toss in poppy melodies, some sing-along choruses, and a bucket-load of fun, and this duo will indeed have you yelling for more (4.5 stars).” - Jo Ann Greene, AllMusic.com “Midtown Dickens are truly one of the treasures of the Triangle music scene; even the Durham metalheads know & freely acknowledge this fact.” - Ross Grady, WXDU "I am quite sure they could pull out tunes out of a stone." - Carlos Anaconda, Nonalignment Pact “They touch you in a special way that makes you feel like you are witnessing a moment that defines the spirit of creation and connectivity." - The Knowbodies Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.