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Live From The Current Studio

Mountain Man perform in The Current studio

Mountain Man perform in The Current studio.
Mountain Man perform in The Current studio.Nate Ryan | MPR
  Play Now [19:54]

by Jade

November 01, 2018

Mountain Man - Rang Tang Ring Toon (Live at The Current)
by MPR
Mountain Man - Underwear (Live at The Current)
by MPR
Mountain Man - Slow Wake Up Sunday Morning (Live at The Current)
by MPR

Mountain Man's first album, Made the Harbor, was released in 2010. Since that time, the three members of the band — Amelia Meath, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Molly Sarlé have been involved in their own various music projects; Meath in particular is well-known to The Current's listeners as a member of electronic duo Sylvan Esso.

Fast-forward to 2018, and the members of Mountain Man released their second album, Magic Ship. "I had always assumed that we would probably make another record but probably when we were about 60," Meath says. "And then we all moved to the same place [Durham, N.C.] and were being harassed by our friends to make another record, and finally we relented."

In town for a sold-out show at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, Mountain Man stopped at The Current for a live studio session hosted by Jade.

Mountain Man's Molly Sarlé has said in an interview that all three members of the band, who befriended one another as college undergrads, have this secret access to each other's feelings, whether or not they're singing. "I feel it happens whenever we're in a room together," Sarlé explains. " I don't know if it's our empathetic tuning forks vibrate with each other really easily, but we just — whether or not we want to know how we're feeling — we know."

And regarldless of the lyrical subject matter, the songs of Mountain Man are capable of stirring a range of emotional responses from audiences. "It really does feel like the more vulnerable and present we're able to be, the better the shows are," Sarlé says. "And it's singing from a certain place rather than in a certain way, which can be hard to be able to step into every night, to be that vulnerable."

Mountain Man gave a very powerful performance in the studio; use the audio player above to listen to the complete session.

Songs Performed


"Rang Tang Ring Toon"
"Underwear"
"Slow Wake Up Sunday Morning"
All songs from Mountain Man's 2018 album, Magic Ship, available on Nonesuch Records.

Hosted by Jade
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark
Visuals by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Luke Taylor

Mountain Man - official site