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David Wax Museum Release A Reimagining Of Their Early Album Carpenter Bird

July 10, 2020

July 10, 2020: Today, David Wax Museum, fronted by David Wax and Suz Slezak, released new album Carpenter Bird: Revisited (10th Anniversary Edition), a heartfelt reimagining of their 2009 album Carpenter Bird. Produced by Wax, the album was artfully remixed and remastered by D. James Goodwin at The ISOKON (Woodstock, NY), adding a new sheen to the original recordings engineered by David Piper at Streetlight Sound in Somerville, MA and the late Lou Whitney at The Studio (Springfield, MO). The album includes bonus track “Beggar for Your Love”, which was recorded for the original version but left on the cutting room floor.

Stream Carpenter Bird: Revisited HERE.

Carpenter Bird: Revisited takes the skeleton of the original fan favorites and fleshes them out in a way Wax wished he could have done the first time around. The recordings of a decade ago were cobbled together in a piecemeal way as the band made money from bar gigs in and around Boston, their original stomping grounds. Once it was completed, there was neither the money nor the time for tweaking. The band desperately needed a finished product so they could start touring outside of New England, to build the international fanbase they enjoy today.

“As the 10th anniversary of Carpenter Bird approached and fans kept asking about whether it would ever be released on vinyl, I knew we couldn’t simply re-release it as is because I had too many lingering issues with the original recording. After all, Carpenter Bird was initially just meant to be a demo. A remix (with the possibility of re-singing some of the songs, digitally changing the tempos of others, and adding a couple of special touches) suddenly seemed like it could produce a record that honored the spirit and flavor of the original but also scratched some of my regretful itches about the album. And so, Carpenter Bird: Revisited was born.

“I got quite emotional when D. James Goodwin first sent me the new mixes.  His fresh ears and art-forward approach brought a much-needed perspective to the tracks, and along the way, he even dug up discarded tracks that I’d completely forgotten about.  Hopefully, this new version of Carpenter Bird still feels like an old friend. Maybe the old friend is a little different now, with new clothes and a haircut. But it’s still the same companion.”

The original 2009 release was declared “a gem of rare beauty” by Improper Bostonian, while Daytrotter described it as “cutting into souls… and extracting heartache that sounds like rejoicing…”. At the time, David Dye of World Café hailed David Wax Museum as “a band that joyfully celebrates and preserves the heart of Americana music”.

The album features original performances by Jiro Kokubu, Greg Glassman, Jordan Wax, Jack McGrath, and David Piper, with fresh contributions from current collaborators, including: horn player and arranger Alec Spiegelman, multi-instrumentalist Danilo Henriquez, and musical power couple Devon Sproule & Paul Curreri.

Carpenter Bird: Revisited tracklist:

1) “Jalopy Heart”

2) “Colas”

3) “Beatrice”

4) “The Persimmon Tree”

5) “Beekeeper”

6) “Carpenter Bird”

7) “I Have Wasted My Life”

8) “El Corrido del Borracho”

9) “Be Like a Ghost”

10) “Donkey in My Soul”

11) “When You Are Still”

12) “Let Me Rest”

13) “Beggar for Your Love” (new bonus track)