After fully twenty years as a professional musician, Colorado mandolinist Dylan McCarthy is releasing Lost & Found, his first solo project of instrumental music, on Friday. It’s a 7-track EP, and to mark the date, he has agreed to share a cut from the album with our readers today.
24th of August is a joyous number in fiddle tune form that he wrote for his beloved, with support in the studio from Eric Wiggs on guitar, Bradley Morse on upright bass, Sam Armstrong-Zickefoose on banjo, Allen Cooke on reso-guitar, and both Natalie Padilla and Justin Hoffenburg on fiddle.
Dylan tells us that the tune is a special one for him.
“24th of August was written as a wedding gift for my wonderful wife, Sarah Cole. We got married on August 24th, 2019 and I wrote the tune the week before while we were enjoying relaxing in Maine before the big day. I knew I wanted to write a tune for her, and my goal was to capture something that had elements of being delicate and pretty while still feeling celebratory. One of my big influences for this tune was John Reischman; I wanted to emulate some of the melodic qualities of his writing that I love so much. I think the band did a great job of getting across the feeling of jubilation that I was hoping for when we recorded it.”
In an interesting twist of fate, McCarthy discovered his love for the mandolin while studying at the Berklee College of Music as an electric bassist. Until that time, he had been focused on classic rock, but since returning to Lyons, CO, his life has been centered around playing and teaching mandolin.
He currently performs with Thunder and Rain, as well as side projects The Lyons Bluegrass Collective and Follow the Fox.
24th of August is available now as a single, and the full Lost & Found album releases on May 1, when it will be offered on the popular download and streaming services. Physical CDs can be ordered from Dylan’s web site.
