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Sympathizer

by Michael Roberts

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Vinyl version of Sympathizer pressed locally by Burlington Record Plant. Edition of 100.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Sympathizer via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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    edition of 100 

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Sympathizer is a deep meditative hang. You should probably snag a discounted copy of Wooden Dinosaur's 2016 album Working Weather along with your Sympathizer purchase for purposes of equilibrium.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Sympathizer via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Bats 03:07
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2.
Early Morning Breeze 03:09
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3.
Take It Slow 02:26
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4.
Even Wolves 05:07
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5.
Snowflakes 02:42
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6.
Two White Tails 05:48
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7.
Fighter 04:41
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8.
Plastic Flowers 03:20
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9.
Some Strange Dream 03:02
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about

Dear Listener,

When I first started recording music, it was a form of journaling. I wrote and then recorded quickly, sometimes simultaneously. Those songs and sounds made up albums, and the albums became little time capsules of my life.

Sympathizer is bound to be the pandemic time capsule.
At first there were the weeks in isolation with my family. We have always known that we live in a beautiful place, but our privilege astounded us right then. My daughters worked on art projects while my wife and I tried to do our jobs, and then be outside whenever we could. I can’t remember the school schedule exactly, but at a certain point I often found myself with three kids to guide while I was supposed to be working. Some days I’d power up some synths and other instruments in the basement and let them go wild. My daughter Iris deserves credit for naming this album. After a few weeks of jams, she asked me if I could set up the sympathizers for her again one afternoon.

Soon my family went back to school and there I was at home alone with a small, weird terrier. Looking back, I feel that those were good days too, running the trails with my pup, or sometimes just staring out the window at a storm or a coyote passing across a hayfield.
In the absence of shows during this time, I set about making an album in my modest home studio. At first, I didn’t think it would be something to release, just something to do. But then my neighbor called me up and invited me to his gorgeous studio, Guilford Sound, and some pals from around town agreed to join me. We recorded six songs in two nights, without rehearsals. My favorite is “Two White Tails”. We had just finished having a bit of dinner and a glass of wine and the take on the album is our first play through it. It sounds like it’s going to fall apart at times. I love that. The remaining tracks here are demos from a $19 tape cassette recorder I use around the house. Most recordings are never as good the second time.

The album title Sympathizer isn’t just a clever little inside joke though. I’ve spent a lot of time these past years reading environmental works on multispecies entanglements and sense of place. Being home has allowed me to think more deeply on that too, and the songs here are filled with those curiosities. What does it feel like to be a sugar maple on those first spring thaw days, an ocean of groundwater ready to be guzzled up? What is that coyote thinking as it stares at me across the field? Would it eat my terrier if given the chance, and would I blame it for doing so? On some of these songs, I try to bring that wonder to our nation, which seems to be in a process of cultural and political disintegration. I wonder if music and awe of landscapes are two things that can bring us back together somehow.

As always, there are too many people to thank, but I’ll start with a few. Thanks to Dave Snyder, Matt Hall, and Cindy Larsen at Guilford Sound for being the very best and very nicest in the recording business. To Corey, Jesse, John, and Rebecca for their unbelievably intuitive performances on these songs. To Alix Sorrell for the beautiful artwork. To Sam Moss and John Doney for listening to mixes and demos and offering their endless encouragement. Most of all, thanks to my family.

Yours Truly,

Michael Roberts
Guilford, Vermont
January 2022

credits

released February 18, 2022

Tracks 1,2,4,6,8,9 recorded at Guilford Sound in Guilford, VT

Michael Roberts: guitar & vocals
Rebecca Branson Jones: pedal steel guitar
Corey DiMario: double bass
Jesse Fox: piano
John Levin: ARP Odyssey

Engineered by Dave Snyder
Assistant Engineer Matt Hall
Mixed by Matt Hall

Tracks 3,5,7 not recorded at Guilford Sound, but still in Guilford, VT
Michael Roberts: guitar, lap steel guitar, synthesizer, vocals, engineering, mixing

All songs written & produced by Michael Roberts
except "Early Morning Breeze" written by Dolly Parton
Mastered by Carl Saff

Artwork and design by Alix Sorrell

All songs (except Early Morning Breeze) written by Michael Roberts
© 2022 Cold Cowboy Songs (BMI)

© & ℗ 2022 Michael Roberts
All rights reserved

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Michael Roberts Guilford, Vermont

Michael Roberts is a guitarist, songwriter, composer, and bandleader from southern Vermont. In addition to his solo work, he leads The Rear Defrosters, a honky tonk collective, and the alt-country band Wooden Dinosaur.

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