Wyrd of the Wetlands

Swamp Baby live clip (from RestFest 2011, St. Joseph’s Church, Albany NY)

Mike Hotter — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:31:11 +0000

Swamp Baby plays new song “A Cold Winter”

Thanks to Tim Reidy for filming!

A Cold Winter

Mike’s Top 10 Albums for 2011

Mike Hotter — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:42:09 +0000

New Swamp Baby on the latest B3nson comp

Mike Hotter — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 15:12:23 +0000

finally, a track off the next Swamp Baby album. . . click on the picture and enjoy!

click to download a new Swamp Baby song!

Big Show – New Album Teaser

Mike Hotter — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 04:04:26 +0000

We are psyched to officially announce a show date at the 2nd Restoration Festival in Albany NY. We will be playing circa 2:30Pm on Sunday, August 28 @ St. Joseph’s Church in Albany NY. Also playing that same day are other great local bands, and the fabled Elephant 6 alumni the Music Tapes and A Hawk and a Hacksaw. Tickets can be purchased @ http://restfest.net/(or the pic below) – then feel free to hear a work in progress from the next Swamp Baby over here on youtube: (Swamp Baby “Rachmed” video)

Seeing Stars goes International

Mike Hotter — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 03:28:17 +0000

There was some blog love for Swamp Baby last Fall (namely from No Fear of Pop and largeheartedboy) – this seems to have been the reason we ended up on the November 2010 edition of Blalock’s Indie Playlist. We now have listeners in places as far-ranging as Australia, Latvia, Hong Kong, Belgium and the Netherlands – its a wonder and a blessing to behold! Only thing, the version of Seeing Stars that made it onto the playlist cuts off about a minute too early.

If any of you have the incomplete version of Seeing Stars from the Blalock Indie/Rock Playlist, please let us know – can send you a link to the complete version for free, or just download the complete version here on last.fm. Thanks, and be sure to check back here or at swampbaby.net for news on the forthcoming album.

Swamp Baby @ the Matulis wedding

A clip from the studio, & a new review from Terrascope Online

Mike Hotter — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 04:11:23 +0000

“All Fours” by American quartet Swamp Baby is that strange thing, an album of first-take songs, many of them approached by the band with little or no preparation. Placing bluesy acoustic guitars with violin, bass, simple drums and subtle backing synths (played by producer Frank Moscowitz) the album is slow, hazy and sun-dappled. Openers ‘Economy’ and ‘Seeing Stars’ set the mood, before the more overtly blues/country ‘New Year’s Eve,’ which illustrates the band’s working method well, and is the highlight of the album. ‘Maine’ is light verging on fragile, while ‘Faust’ rises and falls in unexpected places, and features a lovely keyboard part at the end. ‘Sin Pan Alley’ is mysteriously melancholic, while album closer ‘Red Skies’ brings it all together in a kind of Neil Young-esque waltztime cut. The album as a whole hangs together really well, perhaps because of its semi-improvised, first-take ethos, and stands as an intriguing addition to the canon of “slow and dreamy.”
Terrascope Online, December 2010

New Baby

Mike Hotter — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 01:05:02 +0000

Meg and Mike welcomed Emily Wing Hotter into the fold on 9/20/10 – Baby’s Baby:

Emily Wing Hotter

Fall and Winter will see us finishing up our Sophomore release – look for songs to be a lot livelier, louder and even richer in the gorgeous sounds you expect from the Babe!

In the meantime, here’s a new review from a smart babe from Norway:
nofearofpop Swamp Baby All Fours review

September – Back to Rock School

Mike Hotter — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 00:45:32 +0000

Autumn finds Swamp Baby creating and spawning at a truly unruly pace. About a week ago, the band played their first show in many moons, as part of the B3nson Collective’s First Annual Restoration Funstival – here are a few pictures of the band at work and play (click on pics to enlarge):

Swamp Baby, w/ special guest Matthew Carefully on drums

Frank Moscowitz getting jiggy with his Omnichord

We will be following this performance with – another one on Sunday, September 19!

We’re thrilled to be sharing the stage with the following musicians:

Ben Karis-Nix www.benkarisnix.com/benkn/
Matthew Carefully www. heartstack.org
Ashley Pond www.ashleypondmusic.com
Eric Margan www.myspace.com/theredlions

On top of all this greatness, comes news of work on Swamp Baby’s second album. We’re taking everything that was great about the first album, and upping it a notch, with many more variations in tempos, rhythms and moods – many times bubbling over into the rock and roll beast you always knew was lurking inside the Baby!

Til next time, much love to you and yours!

Swampie Bee

Live on WEXT, airing July 15th and 18th

Mike Hotter — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:19:10 +0000

WEXT (97.7), the great public radio station that supports local music in the Capital Region, will air a session with Swamp Baby @ 9PM Eastern, this Thursday, July 15 – it will re-air on Sunday, July 18 @11AM Eastern. You can stream at http://www.exit977.org/

Swamp Baby will play 5 songs and answer some questions from Chris Wienk – one of the selections, “Don’t Looks Good” is hiding under the picture below – WYRD.

Albany/Troy's Swamp Baby with Chris Wienk of WEXT

Ultra rare – “Hell In Sparks” circa 2007

Mike Hotter — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 05:04:39 +0000

This is an early version of “Hell in Sparks (a night that may have been dying)”, recorded @ the Foundry in Cohoes, late 2007 ( I think!)

compare to the version that eventually made the album:

Hell In Sparks (All Fours version)

Speaking of albums – two more months, then we return to the Temple to work on the next one . . .