Basic Folk 131 – Andrew Marlin of Watchhouse

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Two years into starting his band Mandolin Orange, Andrew Marlin and his partner Emily Franz were having second thoughts about their band name. Nine years later, they announced their new name: Watchhouse. It’s easy to understand why it took so long: they were putting out records, gaining momentum and quickly establishing themselves with this funny meaningless band name: Andrew had an orange mandolin and he named the band as such. What’s harder to grasp is that Andrew Marlin is an individual whose every action, output and intention is incredibly thoughtful and filled to the brim with meaning. On the pod, he talks about the new band name’s origin: it’s named after a place he would visit as teen in the Chesapeake Bay. It was a quiet place where he would spend a lot of time in silence and communion, and he talks about why he wanted to bring that essence to the sound of Watchhouse.

Andrew was born and raised in a small North Carolina town surrounded by the musical women in his family: his grandmother, mom and sisters played piano in church growing up and he was surrounded by a lot of hymns and old songs. He bought a guitar 14 after saving up his own earnings from the nearby farm store (it took three long weeks to save!) and began to write songs. He moved to Chapel Hill in 2008 to dig into the music community, meeting Emily at an impromptu jam one year later. There, he met his match, started a band and has subsequently made a life and family with her. He gets into how the two were able to connect, how she truly sees him and his obsession with the mandolin and how listening to Bill Monroe instrumentals and old fiddle tunes really sharpened his playing. Andrew is a very smart and articulate person who makes important music. I’m excited to hear more from Watchhouse and where they grow. Enjoy Andrew! And yes, an Emily interview is in our future.

Watchhouse’s official vid for Upside Down (Feat. Emily on lead! V rare!)

Watchhouse on Spotify