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It's a Complicated Life

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Produced by Will Kimbrough

Mixed by Trina Shoemaker

Engineered by Sean Sullivan

Mastered by Alex McCullough

Recorded at The Tractor Shed, Nashville, TN

Album Artwork by David McDougall

Top 10 Albums of 2023

Montana Public Radio

"Alt-Americana and country-rock storytelling that does equally as well at full volume on a road trip across the lonesome prairie, or in a dark honky-tonk bar stop somewhere along the way. Great harmonies and some juicy cello playing. "Working Man's Blues" is a standout track on a rare complete album that contradicts the modern practice of single releases and filler." — Christopher Moyles

"Personable and personal, honest and open, easily accessible and easily absorbed."

– The Alternate Root

The songs on It’s a Complicated Life, their fourth album, are alive with vivid poetry. From deeply personal stories such as Julie’s “The Push and The Pull” recounting a divorce and Dave lamenting his mother’s passing in “Momma’s Gone”, to political tales of angst such as “Workingman’s Blues”, to simple reminders that we’re all in this together with “In the Morning’s” lyric “check on your friends please”, the record speaks both to the moment and to the universal human condition.  

 

It’s a Complicated Life was recorded over the course of five days at The Tractor Shed in Goodlettsville, TN just outside Nashville. It was produced by Will Kimbrough (Todd Snider, Rodney Crowell), mixed by Trina Shoemaker (Indigo Girls, The Wood Brothers) and engineered by Sean Sullivan (Sturgill Simpson, Molly Tuttle). In addition to the band, the record features Kimbrough on acoustic and electric guitars and the slide variations of both, along with mandolin and Hammond organ. Dave’s brother Eric, an accomplished pianist that performs with the New York Philharmonic, makes a cameo appearance on “Momma’s Gone”.

 

While It’s a Complicated Life paints a rich picture of the rural west, at its heart it is an ode to the human experience; joyful, weary, and bittersweet, buoyed by an unshakable hope for what tomorrow brings. “This is an album about where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going, these are universal stories,” says Dave. “We really hope people find themselves wrapped up in this music much the way we’re wrapped up in our complicated mid-forties, family raising lives.” Sit back, grab yourself a cup of tea – or something a little stronger – and take this record for a spin. You’ll find you’re already a part of the family, bonded by melody and intrigued about what comes next.

Cheers to Solitude (2020)

 Top 40 Album on Americana Radio

Top 10 on the Alt-Country Specialty Chart

"The Two Tracks avoid many of the cliches and gimmicks that have grown common in the Americana world while still championing a natural, Earth-grown sound. In this regard, The Two Tracks are almost like an embodiment of what acoustic music is all about.  To hear an acoustic quartet reach a level of dynamic and thematic intensity like The Two Tracks do is an immeasurably rewarding experience. It’s pure musicianship, it’s pure excellence, it’s pure Americana."

- AMERICAN SONGWRITER

Produced by Will Kimbrough

Mixed by Trina Shoemaker

Engineered by Sean Sullivan

Mastered by Jim DeMain

Recorded at The Butcher Shoppe, Nashville, TN

The Two Tracks (2016)

 "Winner of Wyoming Public Radio's Best Album of 2016, “Their eponymous debut album finds them creating an instant connection. Julie Szewc, an effusive vocalist, turns nearly every song into a moment worth savouring...in truth there’s not a single offering here that doesn’t engage the listener practically from the get go.” 

 - No Depression

Postcard Town (2017)

"With “Postcard Town,” The Two Tracks reach down into our collective souls with a batch of well-crafted songs that are delivered from a storyteller’s point of view, and the musicianship and harmonies are as sweet as honey in the rock." 

- Nashville Blues Society

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