Album kissing other ppl on Peacedale Records Also Spotlights Covers by Lennon Stella, Wilco, Songs: Ohia / Jason Molina, Joan Armatrading and More
Indie-folk duo Viv & Riley and “indie singer-songwriter” (NPR Mountain Stage) Rachel Baiman have come together to form kissing other ppl, a new project and beautiful album by the same name, featuring cover songs from disparate sources, set to be released on Peacedale Records. Recorded at the home of producer Greg D. Griffith (Amy Ray; Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan, Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International; The Word with Luther Dickinson, Robert Randolph and John Medeski; Le Tigre; Pete Seeger), the sessions never saw the artists actually set foot into the studio next door, recording largely in the living room but also experimenting with other spaces such as the natural reverb of a 1960s-era bomb shelter on the property.
Today, kissing other ppl (ft. Rachel Baiman and Viv & Riley) shares its first single “Where’d All The Time Go,” a Dr. Dog song, on all music platforms (HEAR/SHARE).
kissing other ppl is available today to purchase on vinyl and download via Bandcamp (though the tracks will not be streaming, beyond the singles).
Rachel Baiman’s previous album Common Nation of Sorrow (Signature Sounds) earned four stars from American Songwriter Magazine. She has collaborated with Erin Rae, Kevin Morby, and Molly Tuttle and contribueed to projects by Shaboozey and Kacey Musgraves. NPR said, “virtuosic… her recent ‘big-picture songs’ ring true.” Folk Alley said, “Rachel Baiman’s emotionally raw, plaintive vocals create an exquisite, expansive soundscape that allow her lyrics to permeate our souls, calling us to consider the delicate balance of the human condition, to mourn it, to celebrate it.” VICE NOISEY said that her music’s effect is that of “flipping off authority one note at a time.”
Based in Durham, NC and sporting over 8.5 million streams and 55,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, the “exceptional” (No Depression) Viv & Riley “evoke shades of Yo La Tengo” (Rolling Stone Country). Alex Bingham of Hiss Golden Messenger produced their prior album, Imaginary People (Free Dirt Records), which saw members of Hiss Golden Messenger and Wye Oak collaborating with the duo. Under the Radar raved about Viv & Riley’s “warmth and organic joy [on] welcome folk delights.”
The concept for kissing other ppl first germinated when the duo backed Rachel on tour. “We listened to a lot of music in the van,” remembers Riley Calcagno. Vivian Leva continues the story, saying, “We all listen to a lot of folk and country music but it started by sharing our favorite pop music that we were listening to. It started as, wouldn’t that be fun if we could play a song like that together.” The first song they worked up was the apropos “Kissing Other People,” by pop star and actress Lennon Stella. Riley says, “It just kind of happened that we were talking about the same music. It felt like fun coincidences, these artists across a lot of different realms and times. So it just then seemed like we could make a record with these great songs, us reinterpreting them, have them all feel of a piece, even though the songs are from different eras and the original recordings are very different.”
Baiman says, “I love playing with them. Both Riley and Viv have this deeply rooted in old-time music, things fundamental to that, groove, dynamics, rhythm, acoustic instruments in conversation with each other, things blending. Viv’s such an amazingly nuanced singer. I became a better singer trying to match her on harmonies. It was really fun to watch what would happen,” adding, “Every idea that was suggested was sort of like, yeah’s let’s try it, the weirder the better.”
Riley continues, “We put together the arrangements as we were recording them. We all shared this desire to really experiment.” They rarely planned who would sing lead on each track far in advance of hitting record. “Nothing was set in stone,” says Viv, continuing, “It was kind of fun, picking songs for each other, challenging someone else and thinking, ‘oh man, can I pull this off?’”
For instance, Viv hopped on drums and Rachel played an intentionally out-of-tune electric guitar solo, neither principle instruments for them. They also recorded on toy instruments such as a kids’ keyboard that emitted smoke and almost caught fire during the session. “Our own restlessness created the conditions to create a little bit more of an indie rock record but still with fiddle, banjo, and harmonies,” adds Riley. The band would often use early takes, the energy of discovery included, along with imperfections from the moment.
The lack of pressure opened the sessions to a spirit of curiosity and exploration. Griffith recorded through a vintage camcorder, running the audio directly from the camera as an additional lo-fi room mic. “That was one of Greg’s strokes of genius. You wouldn’t think to do that!,” exclaims Riley.
Baiman recalls, “He specializes in an analogue and vulnerable present sound, really full of imperfection. We were not wanting to commit to having to finish a whole record in a week. It ended up being really amazing. Greg is really awesome and has such a pure artistic intention.”
Riley says, “We recorded in the summer, rolled around in the grass, jumped on the trampoline, that was the spirit of how we recorded it. We weren’t thinking about anything, just playing music with friends we like to play music with.”
kissing other ppl (Rachel Baiman and Viv & Riley) Tour Dates
August 20 – Radio Bean – Burlington, VT
August 21 – The Word Barn – Exeter, NH
August 22 – Club Passim – Cambridge, MA
August 23 – Arcadia Folk Festival – Easthampton, MA
October 3 – The Station Inn – Nashville, TN
October 4 – Petra’s – Charlotte, NC
October 5 – The Pinhook – Durham, NC
October 7 – 185 King St. – Brevard, NC
October 8 – The Front Porch – Charlottesville, VA [CHECK VENUE]
October 9 – The Pie Shop – Washington, D.C.
October 10 – The Owl – Brooklyn, NY
kissing other ppl ft. Rachel Baiman and Viv & Riley Track Listing
1. Kissing Other People (originally recorded by Lennon Stella)
2. Ashes of American Flags (Wilco)
3. Hold On Magnolia (Songs: Ohia)
4. Where’d All the Time go (Dr. Dog)
5. Woncha Come On Home (Joan Armatrading)
6. A Lesson In Leavin’ (Dottie West)
7. Born To Lose (Waylon Payne)
8. Easy Rider (Dan Parsons)
