Gwyneth & Monko

Good Old Horse EP Release Date: July 20, 2010

Bio

The earnest folk sentiments of Gwyneth & Monko ring with purity on their mostly acoustic EP, Good Old Horse. Lyrics lace together fictional female characters, while the down-home style mirrors the musicians’ earnest lives stemming from their childhood into young adults and touring musicians.

With a voice that invokes Jenny Lewis’ solo work crossed with the intimate folk of Gillian Welch; Gwyneth Moreland strums her guitar in subtle chords while Michael Monko accompanies her lyrical stories with trickling mandolin, steady acoustic guitar and folk accents. Gwyneth & Monko sound as if they come from classic country roots, perhaps off a farm in Tennessee, but it’s northern California they call home.

Gwyneth’s lyrics and musical style reflects her small town life in Mendocino, CA (population 1,006), a city rich of nature and history. “My parents moved to Mendocino in 1972 after graduating from Stanford University, where they fulfilled their dreams of living in the ‘back-to-the-land’ way and raising their five children,” affirms Gwyneth. As a child, Gwyneth grew up in a household with no TV, CD player or junk food. That lifestyle resulted in a young woman who values the simple things in life. Growing up listening to her parents’ Bob Dylan and Joan Baez albums, her childhood has clearly translated into her adult musical life. Ironically, although there was no television in her childhood home, Gwyneth’s aunt was Donna Reed (of The Donna Reed Show).

Monko grew up in the San Francisco suburbs, incongruously playing hard rock while listening to bluegrass in high school. As he got older, alongside the bass and guitar, Monko was drawn to classic folk and country instruments like the fiddle, banjo, and mandolin. Monko enrolled in Berklee College of Music online to continue his studies in theory, harmony and music production. It was as he was defining his folkier side, that fate stepped in and he met Gwyneth. He was an instant complement to Gwyneth’s voice and lyrics with his Americana instrumentation.

Monko and Gwyneth formed as band after the 2009 release of Gwyneth’s solo album Wishbone. When she was getting ready to tour for Wishbone, she searched for a backup band and fortune gave her multi-instrumentalist Monko. Almost immediately upon touring, the pair began writing music together. “The first time I heard Gwyneth sing, I knew she was special,” beams Monko. “I could only dream of playing with such talent.” Monko’s musical past consisted of playing both heavy rock songs and bluegrass, which when blended together turned out to be the perfect complement to Moreland’s earthy and classic country vocals.

The album and title track “Good Old Horse” departs from the fictional female characters depicted in “Lexington Ballad” and “Jack-a-Row”. It is sincerely about singer Gwyneth’s childhood horse, which is now 30 years old. The EP essentially captures what the acoustic live performance of Gwyneth & Monko show sounds like; music scaled down with just a few instruments and vocals. The duo tours across the country in an RV that serves as a temporary home on the road. The phrase “less is more,” couldn’t be more apt for Gwyneth & Monko. “We travel in a camper van that has a sink, cook top, and refrigerator,” says Gwyneth. “We both love to travel and so we view touring as away to do all our favorite things: playing music and traveling.” The band will soon embark on recording a full-length album, which will include not only acoustic elements, but also a fuller sound with more electric instruments and percussion. Shooting for a date at the start of the next year, Gwyneth is eager to embark on new recordings (including new versions of a few songs off the EP). “We both play an array of instruments (on the forthcoming full-length) that we didn't play on the EP,” says the singer. “There will be electric guitars, banjo, accordion, bass and keys. We are really excited to have time to explore and get the sounds we want.”

Contact
Janelle Rogers
Office: 248.336.9696
jrogers [at] greenlightgopublicity.com