Twain - Rare Feeling (2017)

Twain is the singer/songwriter project of multi-instrumentalist Mat Davidson, onetime member of the Low Anthem and Spirit Family Reunion. Consistently melodic and brittle, Twain's material has spanned experimental lo-fi and intimate indie folk.

Hailing from Franklin County, Virginia, Davidson began recording as Twain in the mid-2000s. He self-released the albums Sleeping Tree and Almanack before joining indie folk group the Low Anthem in 2009 as bassist/multi-instrumentalist. Still making time for Twain, he put out Love Is All Around in July 2010, then appeared on the Low Anthem's 2011 LP, Smart Flesh, before leaving the group later that year. While with the Low Anthem, he also joined Americana outfit Spirit Family Reunion on fiddle, leaving that band in early 2014 to refocus on Twain.

Recorded straight to tape and mastered in analog, 2014's Life Labors in the Choir channeled blues-like rawness into wounded folk. Also released in 2014, Twain-Tone Rally-Race: Collected Recordings 2005-2008 repackaged Sleeping Tree and Almanack. Intended as a full-length in progress with demos and live performances, the Sir Kitchen Boy EP followed in 2015, and the Alternator EP, released in 2016, featured all new songs.

In 2017, Twain signed with Austin, Texas-based Keeled Scales and toured in support of acts such as Big Thief, Langhorne Slim, and the Deslondes. With bassist Ken Woodward and drummer Peter Pezzimenti credited as bandmembers, their label debut, Rare Feeling, arrived that October. ~ Marcy Donelson