About

Mandolin Orange is songwriter Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz.  The Chapel Hill, NC duo ornaments lyric and harmony focused tunes with acoustic and electric guitars, fiddle and mandolin.  Their instrumentation draws on bluegrass and rock-and-roll alike, keeping Marlin’s dark lyrical themes at the forefront of their country sound. The duo released a sophomore double LP entitled Haste Make | Hard Hearted Stranger on November 8, 2011, and will continue to tour in support of the album in 2012.

Haste Make was recorded with bassist Jeff Crawford and drummer James Wallace in winter 2010/2011 at Arbor Ridge Studios West in Franklin, NC and at Arbor Ridge Studios in Chapel Hill, and was produced by Crawford and Mandolin Orange. Hard Hearted Stranger was recorded in summer 2011 at Rubber Room Studios in Chapel Hill and features Andrew and Emily alone, produced by Andrew Marlin.

Quiet Little Room was produced, recorded and engineered by Marlin and Frantz at Rubber Room Studios in Chapel Hill.  The intimate and sparse style of the tracks met critical acclaim in several reviews.  Independent Weekly’s Rick Cornell states that “all across the record is the sound of voices and instruments in the dark, finding light.” Swampland.com’s James Calemine likens the album’s harmonies to those of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris.  Muzzle of Bees notes that their “focus moves from the instrumentation to the melody and ethos of songs … a little bit grassy, a little bit country-folk, a little bit something else.” 

Since their debut release, Mandolin Orange has shared bills with Rosanne Cash, Chatham County Line, the Steep Canyon Rangers and Abigail Washburn, and performed at festivals such as Shakori Hills Grassroots, Hopscotch Music Fest, Beaufort Music Festival, and Albino Skunk Festival (SC).