For his first solo project in more than a decade, mandolinist Mark Stoffel releases Coffee & Cake, his debut album for Mountain Home Music Company. Made with an array of guests that range from friends around his southern Illinois home to colleagues from around the world, the all-instrumental collection —now available — is a showcase both for his graceful, sophisticated playing and his equally distinctive compositional flair.

"The time was just right for this album,” Stoffel says. “Long before we started recording in the summer of 2019 I had a pretty clear vision of both music and the overall concept, which is to create an instrumental album with melodies that stick and an overall feel that appeals to the heart and soul. With that in mind, the tunes kept coming and it felt almost like my mandolin was guiding me along during the whole process. And because I grew up in Germany, where the daily afternoon Coffee & Cake ritual has been delighting people for centuries, I didn’t have to search long for the title of the album!”