“We want to tell our new stories by the light of the old.”

Back in 2008, Middle Maki began with cooking good food and playing good tunes in a room so full you couldn’t turn around. Twins Elizabeth and Spencer Maki, joined by fiddler Anna Levitt and whoever else they could fit in their living room, got together to play old songs and new songs. It quickly spilled out of the house and into the city. They term their music “present tense Americana,” songs that are both nostalgic and immediate. “The emotions and the stories are the same as they ever were,” describes songwriter Elizabeth, “and when you take them out of their context, when you reposition them, they mean something both old and wholly new. We want to tell our new stories by the light of the old.”

The band, often compared to Iron and Wine, Gillian Welch, and Lucinda Williams, writes music from the Americana genre, but isn’t married to it. Middle Maki clearly defines a new generation where the sincerity of Americana isn’t about geography or genetics anymore, its about making the music you love. They say to you: “We are making the music we love; come out and make it with us.”

Their debut ep, Port Adieu, was recorded at Hyde Street Studios with bassist Jack Kodros. Release date: November 1st, 2009.

. . . and what about the couch?

Photo courtesy of Frans Perris