Singer-songwriter-guitarists Tyler Ramsey and My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel are thrilled to release Celestun, their debut collaborative acoustic effort, on their own Duo Quest Records via Tone Tree Music. The new project places Ramsey and Broemel’s juxtaposed guitar-playing styles and training front and center to create rustic beauty and atmospheric power.

“The songs unfold with patience and warmth, simple in structure, rich in mood, moving at the pace of a Sunday drive with no urgency and plenty of room to absorb the scenery. Broemel’s classically informed touch pairs beautifully with Ramsey’s nimble fingerstyle approach,” writes Copper (PSAudio). Creative Loafing adds that the album features “shimmering songs that capture a graceful, unhurried Laurel Canyon vibe,” while Blueridge Outdoors describes it as “guitar tranquility.”

The pair’s initial objective had been to record an all-instrumental album, but the natural flow of the sessions led the duo to begin incorporating vocal tracks, “Nevermind,” “Sail Away,” and “Flying Things”ft. The Secret Sisters. Over the years, both Ramsey and Broemel had previously worked with The Secret Sisters, a.k.a. GRAMMY® Award-nominated duo Laura Rogers and Lydia Slagle. Broemel contributed pedal steel to their 2010 cover of Johnny Cash’s “Big River” with Jack White, while Ramsey toured and sang harmonies with them on a rendition of Crosby, Stills & Nash’s “Wasted on the Way” in 2024.

Ramsey takes lead vocals on his heartwarming “Flying Things,” a tender lullaby written for his 11-year-old daughter. “Early in her life, we would read her bedtime stories – we still do – but there was a really sweet and beautifully illustrated book that we found, it was called Dream Animals and it was all about going to sleep and then riding on these magical creatures in your dreams,” he says. “We started doing this thing where we’d say, well, what’s your dream animal – we call them ‘dream protectors’ – what’s your dream protector going to be? And we’d all pick out which animals we were going to be hanging out with in our dreams. It was just kind of a little magical way to say good night.

“One night, she was three or four, and we all said we were going to be birds. I was going to be an owl, she was going to be a seagull, and my wife was going to be a hawk. As I was turning the light off and was getting ready to close the door, my daughter said, ‘We’re all flying things.’ I immediately wrote that down, and I wrote this song for her.”

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Though conceived in the most modern way possible, the album has the feel of a lost private stock classic, with songs akin to the work of iconic acoustic guitarists like Clarence White, John Fahey, Michael Hedges, Leo Kottke, Bert Jansch, and John Renbourn.

“I’ve always wanted to make an instrumental album,” says Ramsey. “I enjoy instrumental music as much as I enjoy music with lyrics. It’s just a different path. There are moments in life that call for that kind of thing. I think instrumental music can take you places sometimes that lyrics can’t.”

“Sometimes the guitars write the songs for you,” Broemel says. “Just moving your hands around and letting things happen. It’s hard to describe how to write an instrumental guitar piece. For me, it does seem to kind of come out of the guitar, more than out of my brain.”

Much of the magic of Celestun can be attributed to the very different approaches the two guitarists take to their instruments, with Broemel using fairly standard tuning and Ramsey opting for more alternate tones and pitches. Though dissimilar, their divergent styles prove wonderfully simpatico, allowing them to build complex layers together without getting in the way of each other’s playing. In that sense, Celestunencapsulates the duo’s singular camaraderie, which has led to the creation of this predominantly instrumental song cycle, recorded almost entirely on acoustic guitars. Following the album’s release, the duo will celebrate with a 26-city tour kicking off on January 16 at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa Beach, FL, and making stops across the country. The full itinerary is below.

TYLER RAMSEY / CARL BROEMEL – “CELUSTUN TOUR” 

JANUARY 2026
16-17 – Santa Rosa Beach, FL – 30A Songwriters Festival
18 – Atlanta, GA – Eddie’s Attic – SOLD OUT
20 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn
21 – Mobile, AL- Callaghan’s Irish Social Pub – SOLD OUT
22-23 – New Orleans, LA- Folk Alliance International
25 – Denver, CO – Swallow Hill Music
26 – Boulder, CO – eTown Hall
29 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
30 – Portland, OR – Portland’s Folk Festival
31 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel

FEBRUARY 2026
2 – Felton, CA – Felton Music Hall
4 – Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriet’s
6 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
7 – Ojai, CA – Ojai Deer Lodge
9 – Phoenix, AZ – Musical Instrument Museum
11 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East
12 – Louisville, KY – The Whirling Tiger
13 – Evanston, IL – SPACE
18 – Westerly, RI – The UNITED Theatre
19 – Albany, NY – Lark Hall
20 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios
21 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
22 – Philadelphia, PA – MilkBoy
24 – Vienna, VA – Jammin Java
26 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
27-28 – Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle