Kin Ships

Track Listing / Trailer Little Warrior - from Washington (Eleanor Murray Cover) Lessons From What’s Poor - from Kentucky (Bonnie “Prince” Billy Cover) Sink Or Swim - from Idaho (Bijouxx Cover) Shelly - from Massachusetts (Aisha Burns Cover) Silver Silk - from North Carolina (Nelly Kate Cover) Eloise - from Arkansas (Des Ark Cover) Dark Before Light - from Florida (Cross Record Cover) Give Out - from New Jersey (Sharon Van Etten Cover) Ride Blind - from Indiana (Circuit des Yeux Cover) Borrowed Time, Borrowed Eyes - from Utah (SubRosa Cover) Long Time - from Rhode Island (Deer Tick Cover) Enemy - from Missouri (Angel Olsen Cover) Catalyst / Philosophize In It! Chemicalize In It! - from Georgia (Nerdkween Cover / Kishi Bashi Cover) Uncanny - from Colorado (Sister Grotto Cover) Not At Home - from Oregon (Peter Broderick Cover) St. Joseph’s - from Pennsylvania (A Stick and A Stone Cover) Boulevards - from Tennessee (Dixie Dirt Cover) The Hell-bent And Heaven Sent - from Iowa (Tree branch Twig Cover) Pharaoh - from Arizona (Paleo Cover) Wake Up It’s Time To Rise - from New Hampshire (Nat Baldwin Cover) Dropout Generation - from Nebraska (Hana Zara Cover) How Small - from Kansas (Claire Adams Cover) Distance - from Ohio (WHY? Cover) Choir - from Maine (Blood Warrior Cover) Bodies - from Montana (Ratbath Cover) So Long You - from Louisiana (Meander Cover) Circumnavigation / The Highway - from Texas (Balmorhea Cover / Peter and the Wolf Cover) Empires - from Hawaii (Sam Humans Cover) The Ballad Of Paper Ships - from Maryland (Odessa Chen Cover) Horses - from Wisconsin (Chris Coleslaw Cover) Ships - from Illinois (Pillars and Tongues Cover) Slow Passage - from South Carolina (Plundershop Cover) Car Wreck - from Minnesota (Haley Cover) Resident - from New Mexico (Bigawatt Cover) Ash Into The Sky - from Michigan (Benoit Pioulard Cover) There’s No Invisible Disguise That Lasts All Day - from Alabama (Little Wings Cover) Drinking Isn’t Fun Anymore - from Delaware (Sarah Koon Cover) River Babies - from Alaska (Harm Cover) Not Having Found - from New York (Dirty Projectors Cover) People / Halfsleeper - from California (Dilute Cover / Chelsea Wolfe Cover) Leave Here - from Nevada (Fil Corbitt Cover) Lonesome Guitar - from South Dakota (Dylan Lewis Cover) Formidable Design - from Wyoming (Hoi Ann Cover) Severance - from North Dakota (Bartholomew Goop Cover) Bent - from Mississippi (Katie Fortenberry Cover) Violent Lavender - from West Virginia (Hermit Teeth Cover) Paint - from Oklahoma (Samantha Jo Crain Cover) Song For Ferguson - from Connecticut (An Historic Cover) Universe - from Vermont (Libby Kirkpatrick Cover) Rolling Home - from Virginia (Nathan Moore Cover) Desert - from District of Columbia (Liz Janes Cover) [Bonus Track] Outlying Territories of the US Empire Kin Ships Sampler: States I've Called Home People / Halfsleeper Little Warrior Boulevards Not Having Found Ships Ride Blind Silver Silk The Hell-bent And Heaven Sent Ash Into The Sky Car Wreck Uncanny Circumnavigation / The Highway Rolling Home Description C.J. Boyd has literally spent the last ten years of his life on tour. Boyd refers to his obsessive dedication to the road as the InfiniTour. As the ten-year anniversary of the InfiniTour approached, both Boyd and his label (Joyful Noise Recordings) decided the occasion should be marked with the release of a commemorative album. But no ordinary album would suffice, the project would have to match the expansive scope of the massive endeavor being celebrated. From this idea Kin Ships was born. Kin Ships is a sprawling four disc collection documenting the vast assortment of people and places Boyd has touched, and been touched by over the last ten years. The album was created in accordance with a strict set of guidelines. “First, each song is recorded in a different state, and in that state alone,” Boyd explains. “Secondly, each song is a cover of a person or band from that state with whom I have played shows. That means I recorded 51 songs, each one in a different state (plus DC). Every song is a cover, and I only covered songs of people with whom I have actually shared a stage.” Despite his adherence to these rules, Boyd’s experimental approach to making music remains intact. Throughout the album Boyd is aided by an enormous cast of collaborators, Kin Ships features 186 guest musicians. Boyd’s multilayered bass and vocals are accompanied by all manner of instruments, including theremin, marimba, kalimba, church organ, and saw just to name a few. Kin Ships traces Boyd’s winding path across the United States, making use of many unconventional recording spaces along the way, from an A&W parking lot in Wheatland, Wyoming, to an abandoned grain silo in Buffalo, New York, to the bathroom in the Delaware House Travel Plaza on I-95 in Newark, Delaware. But Boyd is quick to assert that the American landscape framing his sonic adventures is merely circumstantial - none of us get a say in deciding where we’re born, right? “I have absolutely no allegiance to the US or any government,” Boyd emphasizes. Though Boyd didn’t set out to create a celebration or critique of the United States, some commentary was inevitable. In the liner notes, Boyd shares memories of his encounters with Occupy Wall Street in New York, and the Standing Rock protests in North Dakota. One of the most memorable moments on Kin Ships is Boyd’s somber reading of Adam Matlock’s moving “Song For Ferguson”. In his commentary on the song in the album’s notes, Boyd explains how his bi-racial heritage has shaped his views on race and justice in America. Boyd’s love for the music and musicians he’s encountered on the road is palpable. At times Kin Ships feels like an intimate curated tour through 21st-century DIY music in America. Boyd has collected an impressive catalog of songs here, including many overlooked and under-appreciated gems. There’s a recurring theme of movement present throughout the music on Kin Ships, reflecting the constant motion of touring, and our continual push towards meaning and purpose in life. Kin Ships aims for something larger than a standard-issue album, it’s a musical journey that provides listeners with space to explore. Like a great novel Kin Ships takes time to unfold, and sticks with you long after the story has ended. - Kyle Long