mission freak!

Over the last year I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know one of Iowa City’s finest musicians, Mike Finders, first through work, then through his music. Sadly (for us, not for him), Mike and his wife Amy, the main components of the cleverly titled Mike and Amy Finders Band, have decided to make their way west to the state of Colorado to ply their trade. In doing so, they’ve hooked up with Aaron and Erin Youngberg (no, seriously), yet another musical couple to form something of a matrimonial roots music supergroup - the still cleverly named Finders and Youngberg. They’re totally stoked, as are we, to send forth their debut album (a debut only in the same sense that Japanese baseball players can be rookies at age 30) Keep Your Suitcase Packed, which is available now.

There are songs that harken to an older time of music – such as “Ball and Chain Blues,” and there are songs with a more contemporary angle – such as “Roots Run Deep,” but through it all the overarching feeling is that these are exquisitely written songs by some legitimate musicians. More undeniable is the synergy developed by these four over a Midwestern traverse from Iowa to Colorado and back. This record reflects that, seamlessly planting one foot in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and the other in the black Iowa dirt of the Mississippi valley. It’s an impressive debut that’s truly something for them to hang their hat on - for a group with so much collective experience to come together on such short notice and create such a mature and multi-dimensional album is really something - perhaps more impressive is that I can’t help but think that with their move to Colorado that this quartet’s best is yet to come. Expect them to be blowing up the roots and bluegrass music circuit for as long as they feel like doing it. In the meantime, enjoy “Roots Run Deep” below, and you can catch Finders and Youngberg live this Friday as the opening performance of the Iowa Arts Fest at 6pm in the Ped Mall.

Download: Finders and Youngberg - Roots Run Deep