Tin Hat

Carla Kihlstedt — violin, voice
Mark Orton — guitar, dobro
Ben Goldberg — clarinets
Rob Reich — accordion, piano

The music of Tin Hat is born of age-old friendships and deep musical connections. It is subtle, introspective and generous. It has the uncanny ability to be both melancholy and joyful, both sprightly and sinister. We’ve chosen to dig our heels in and embrace the limitations of our old acoustic instruments, letting the rich tone of 150-year-old wood speak for itself… and the accordion, of course, which always speaks for itself.

Collectively, our writing focuses on crafting evocative melodies, subtle textures and elegant arrangements. Though we never pitch our tent in any musical camp for very long, our atmospheric sound sways gracefully between the worlds of folk, classical, Americana and countless others.

We’ve released five studio albums, the most recent being The Sad Machinery of Spring (on Hannibal/Ryko), inspired by the writings and drawings of Polish surrealist Bruno Schultz. We’ve made it a tradition to always include a special vocal track, which has yielded guest appearances by Willie Nelson, Tom Waits, Mike Patton, and Carla Kihlstedt.

For our next recording, we’re turning the tradition up-side down to make an album that is largely vocal with a handful of instrumental tracks. Carla will be singing songs that we’ve all written – settings of the wonderfully concise, bold and whimsical poetry of E. E. Cummings. The release is slated for April – check back for details.

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