The Whiskey Collection – “Little Maggie”

Given that I like bourbon and rye whiskey almost as much as the music I listen to while I drink it, it wasn’t too hard for me to fall in love with The Whiskey Collection when I first saw them play a late show at the Rockwood Music Hall in 2011. The band, which Stef and I have each written about here, met at Juilliard a few years back and released their self-titled debut EP in 2010. Since then, the band has played shows here and there around town, but few and far between as its members have each been busy with other projects.

However, this week TWC released Letters from an Old Trunk (Amazon MP3, Spotify & Bandcamp), a new album produced with guidance from Dan Knobler and Jon Seale of Mason Jar Music, to which we have much respect. Letters maintains the band’s southern-mountain-meets-music-school style set by its first EP, but with a bit more polish and a sound that falls somewhere near Ben Sollee. Songs like “No Man’s Land” and “Johnny” showcase the band’s soul, great instrumentation and powerful builds – not over the top Mumford & Sons style, but more gentle, natural ones that are set against fine songwriting and the memorable voice of Cameron Scoggins.  Others catchy tunes like “Little Maggie” will keep the band’s rep for fun, lively shows going strong.  Here’s a taste…