Up the Ghost

After their 2006 Mincks & Miller release on MayApple Records, quot;Life After All,quot; Todd Mincks and Brett Miller joined with Kenny Wirt (drums), Jessica Gray (bass), and Dallas Jones (keys and banjo) to form Brother Wiley. Preserving the deft songwriting touch from their years as an acoustic duo, the band mixes in howling electric guitars and a pounding rhythm section, drawing influence from the likes of Big Smith to The Avett Brothers to Petty to Springsteen. By enlisting the help of indie rock producer, Jonathan James (Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin), and guest appearances by Big Smith's Mark Bilyeu and Molly Healey, Brother Wiley mixes a cocktail of Ozarks creek water and urban grit that is difficult to fit into a radio format, but promises to cure what ails you. Some albums become the voice of a generation, speaking truth to the various forms of jack-booted thuggery of their time. Other albums say important things about our collective suffering, or our cultural angst. Still others smirk at the whole affair through ironic lenses. This record may do all those things in places, but mostly it's about something else. When you play this music, you won't hear deep reflection, a call to revolution, or fey mockery. In quot;Up The Ghostquot; you will find a brother (and a sister), a brother that speaks equally to the ghosts that haunt you and the spirits that animate you. A brother that only judges you to the extent that he is willing to be judged by you. A brother who says, quot;Hold my hand and let's jump off this bridge...into this river...y'ant to?quot; Amen.