Mandolin Orange (North Carolina)

The lucky folks who attended the VFMF-presented Elephant Revival / Mandolin Orange sold-out concert earlier this year have a bit of an edge on the rest of us – a bit of a head start in the love affair we know is about to deepen and grow between Vancouver music fans and Mandolin Orange.

They formed in 2009 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina around the talents of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Martin and violinist/guitarist Emily Frantz. Martin and Emily had met the night of Obama’s first inauguration at an old-time music jam in a burrito joint called the Armadillo Grill in Carrboro, North Carolina. They had each been irresistibly drawn, and drawn back, to the authenticity of bluegrass and other southern roots music.

Their name? Well they just picked it because they liked the sound of it. Their music? It’s a heady mix of bluegrass, gospel, folk, country, and pop drawn from wells both old and new. It invokes a sort of earthy timelessness, beautifully enriched by their effortless harmonies.

Partners in music and life, they released their self-produced debut, Quiet Little Rooms in 2010 to great applause, and last year they released their fourth, Such Jubilee – and the praise continues. This summer, join the growing number of Mandolin Orange’s Vancouver fans and get ready to fall in love a little yourself.