Join us at TICO TIME BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL, May11-14, 2023 at Tico Time River Resort, just 20 minutes south of Durango, Colorado.

Free Dirt Records is proud to announce the self-titled debut album from new roots music supergroup Mighty Poplar. Bringing together Andrew Marlin from Watchhouse, Noam Pikelny and Chris Eldridge from Punch Brothers, Greg Garrison (Leftover Salmon), and Alex Hargreaves (Billy Strings), Mighty Poplar was formed as a vehicle for these artists to explore their love of improvisation through straight ahead bluegrass.

At its heart, bluegrass music is about what happens when you commit to the moment. The joy of improvisation keeps the music fresh, and the fun of crafting ideas on the fly keeps the musicians on their toes. This true spirit of bluegrass infuses the self-titled record from Mighty Poplar, a new all-star roots project featuring Andrew Marlin of Watchhouse, Noam Pikelny and Chris Eldridge of Punch Brothers, bassist Greg Garrison (Leftover Salmon) and fiddler Alex Hargreaves (Billy Strings) coming March 31, 2023 on Free Dirt Records.

Planet Bluegrass, organizers of Rockygrass, Lyons Folks Fest, and the famed Telluride Bluegrass Festival—which has coincided with the summer solstice for 5 decades—are pleased to announce Mabon, a new concert series programmed in conjunction with longtime Planet Bluegrass fan-favorite, Watchhouse. Mabon will take place September 16-18 in Lyons, Colorado, at the Planet Bluegrass Ranch during the Autumn equinox.

The debut album from Watchhouse — the duo of Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz formerly known as Mandolin Orange — has gone #1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Albums Chart. It’s a tribute to the unique alchemy of the new album, which sees the band embarking on a bold and poetic artistic reinvention that imbues their Appalachian-steeped folk with ambient drone, gauzy soul horns, and experimental texture.

Today, Watchhouse (formerly Mandolin Orange) share the video for the loping, romantic “Upside Down,” the latest single from their new self-titled album out August 13. Directed by Elizabeth Weinberg and inspired by what Watchhouse’s Emily Frantz calls “the notion of having missed someone your whole life before you meet them,” the video captures a fleeting gas station ballet.

Today, Watchhouse shares “Beautiful Flowers,” a slow-blooming elegy to a butterfly that takes an existential look at automotive expansion, the interconnectedness of nature, and the little-considered costs of industrialized society.

Today, Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz of Watchhouse – the critically acclaimed roots music duo who until recently were known as Mandolin Orange – announce their new self-titled album Watchhouse, out August 13 on Tiptoe Tiger Music / Thirty Tigers. With the change of name comes an artistic rebirth: While still firmly rooted in poetic Appalachian folk, there’s a sonic adventurousness informed by American primitivism and ambient soundscapes that gives Marlin and Frantz’s songs a new, unknowable allure.

On Wednesday, critically acclaimed folk duo Mandolin Orange made up of Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz who went from performing in coffee shops to headlining music festivals shared some huge news that they are now called Watchhouse. While Anais Mitchell loved it, Milk Carton Kids' Joey Ryan's reaction was even more notable: "Damn, can we do this too??"

The Green River Festival is pleased to announce that 2021's festival will include Jon Batiste, Ani DiFranco, Drive-By Truckers, Shakey Graves, Valerie June, an