News

December 21, 2004

Friedlander Joins The Mountain Goats For Music-Making

October Erik Friedlander played an opening set at New York's Knitting Factory for super-fan and super-songwriter John Darnielle aka The Mountain Goats. Erik's playing that night was so hot that someone literally fainted during his set. (Okay, actually said audience member had a seizure, and it was rather scary, though they seemed to be fine by the end of the night.) Point being? Erik got along with them so well that Mr. Darnielle flew him out to Northern California a month ago to join in on the sessions for The Mountain Goats third album on 4AD.

On his blog Mr. Darnielle wrote of Erik's tenure as a Goat: "Having completely elevated everybody's game during his short stay here, and having worked so quickly and efficiently that it makes the rest of us look like turtles, Erik Friedlander left this morning. I can't even believe how much I love what he's done for the album. Yesterday, he revealed that he's also conversant with the mandolin. Now, most musician-guys, when they say 'I can play a little piano,' mean only that in a pinch they can follow along. Erik is a different story. When Erik said, 'I also play some mandolin,' what he would have meant were he not a humble and graceful man, was: 'I can totally shred on the mandolin.'"

Mr. Darnielle's bandmate, Peter Hughes, was more succinct: "Erik Friedlander is a motherfucking badass. You guys are gonna SHIT." Read more here and here. (Look for their entries from Nov 11th-13th.)


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