“Old time music has always been a part of our live repertoire since we started the band” says Grain Thief’s Patrick Mulroy. “Until now, this was never really represented in our recorded repertoire. There was a piece missing in the discography. Thus, our new record Something Sour, Something Sweet; mostly traditional fiddle tunes, with a few extra recordings from the archives.”

There’s something about a record cut by a bunch of folks that have put as many miles on their fretboards of their instruments as they’ve put on the van’s odometer. While Boston, MA quintet Grain Thief's prior releases Animal (EP, 2015), Gasoline (2020) and Stardust Lodge (2018) both explored the boundaries of Americana, while also showcasing the group's core as a roots string band, Something Sour, Something Sweet is an ode to the influences that brought these musicians together in the first place. 

Patrick Mulroy (guitar, vocals), Zach Meyer (mandolin, vocals), Michael Harmon (bass, vocals), Tom Farrell (resonator guitar), and Alex Barstow (fiddle) know there’s no room to fake it when it’s just the band, acoustic instruments, and a microphone. “Our goal is to record everything as we would play it live, with as few overdubs as possible” Harmon tells. “We recorded everything ourselves and worked up each tune differently, swapping instruments and recording around one microphone.”

Recorded at Harmon’s Wachusett Recording studio in Princeton, MA, the record features flautist Anh Phung of the band Twisted Pine on the tune “Farewell to Trion”. “We all wound up jamming on this tune one night in Boston” explains Mulroy. “I couldn't get the sound out of my head, so I knew if we were going to record it, we had to have Anh on the track!” As is the case with all Grain Thief records, Something Sour, Something Sweet is imbued with a tangible internal cohesion. They play together whenever possible - and at least twice a week - to maintain their melodic brotherhood at the highest level. 

With a sorely missed piece of the puzzle now in place, Grain Thief are once again deep into writing their next record of originals. “It feels great to have the fiddle tune repertoire represented in our recorded material” says Mulroy. Their last record of originals Gasoline was a natural progression from prior releases, and Something Sour, Something Sweet is coming home to their foundational influences. Whatever the bands come up with next, there’s little doubt it will find a place of honor in the ever-evolving canon of American music. 

Grain Thief has toured the north, south, east, and west of the U.S., playing stages large and small. They have graced the stages at the Greyfox Bluegrass Festival, Hempfest, Podunk Bluegrass Festival, Thomas Point Bluegrass Festival, Ossipee Valley Music Festival, UMS Music Festival, and Rockygrass, among others. Stardust Lodge reached #17 on the Folk DJ Radio Album Chart, #4 on the Roots Music Report Folk Album Chart, and #1 on the Roots Music Report Traditional Folk Album Chart.