Mandolin Orange, a folk-duo based out of North Carolina featuring a Chapel Hill High School alumna as its violinist, released its sixth album, titled Tides of a Teardrop, February 1 on local record label Yep Roc Records.
The group’s latest album is the most emotional record in its catalog, as singer and songwriter Andrew Marlin grieves the loss of his mother, whose death he experienced when he was eighteen.
“New people are being introduced to our new music, and our more established fans have been receptive to our new songs,” Emily Frantz, violinist of Mandolin Orange and 2005 graduate of Chapel Hill High School, said.
The Carolina natives have been feeling the love not only from their home state, but also from the rest of the country, as almost every show on their current tour is sold out.
“It’s been so awesome and exciting,” Frantz said. “The fact that we’re playing bucket-list venues like the Fillmore in San Francisco or places we’ve played before, like the 9:30 Club in D.C., feels amazing. The shows being sold out is icing on the cake.”
Along with the excitement from listeners, the new record has been receiving lots of notable press.
In a January article, Rolling Stone wrote: “North Carolina-based acoustic duo Mandolin Orange have spent the past decade quietly releasing sturdy collections of originals that blend bluegrass, soft-rock, folk and country.”
Bandmates Frantz and Marlin met in 2009, playing shows with mutual friends, and the growth of the band seemed as natural as the members’ meeting.
Establishing themselves as a two-piece was important to them so they could grow together. Once they made a name for themselves locally, they started playing with a group of backing musicians who later recorded albums with them. Today, they all tour as a whole.
“Andrew has always done all the songwriting, but the songs on the new album were very personal in nature,” Frantz said. “He really took his time writing these songs. We didn’t feel in any rush to put out a new album, so the songs really benefited.”
The band attributes much of its success to its strong ties to the North Carolina music scene.
“There’s an active community here of musicians,” Frantz said. “The Triangle has enthusiastic listeners and people who support local music. That’s a huge reason we are successful at all because we had that foundation. We appreciate the culture and don’t take that for granted.”
Mandolin Orange has been on Hillsborough’s Yep Roc Records since 2013.
“It feels grounding to be on a label that’s based in North Carolina,” Frantz said. “It’s convenient because we see them more, and it makes the relationship more personal.”
Frantz started playing music at an early age. In elementary school, she started taking violin lessons and, later in middle school and high school, started playing in bluegrass bands.
After attending Chapel Hill High School, Frantz went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in nursing. She graduated in 2009 and, shortly after, began pursuing music with Marlin.
“I did orchestra band my first year in high school, and then that was the end of my sheet reading music career,” she said.
Unlike Frantz, Marlin is self-taught, so the band has adapted to his style of unstructured composition when writing new songs.
Tides of a Teardrop was released on double vinyl, with one record dark blue and the other light blue. Frantz explained that she and Marlin envisioned the cover to have a light blue and dark blue color scheme, and, when the creative director at Yep Roc Records Nathan Golub painted the cover, they knew they had to make the vinyl match.
“I do love that we ended up with a Carolina Blue record,” Frantz said.
The positive feedback from the new album has the whole band excited for the second leg of tour, ending in September, which includes big festivals in Europe, such as Tønder festival, and sold-out shows all over the U.S. The band members will make their return to North Carolina on September 21, at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary.
