Recorded in an isolated farmhouse in the German countryside, the musicians’ love of storytelling explores new territory on “Trails & Guns”. The band returns to their roots. They explore legends close to Joe’s home in the American Southwest and color this movement by expanding on their core sound with waves of orchestrated instrumentation, such as fiddle, horn, or bassoon. Lyrically, day to day themes of a desk jobs are juxtaposed against the harsh background of desert prospecting and the constant drive westward. Dramatic tales are brought into the harsh light of loss experienced by the story’s sideline characters. The album tells a story of greed and conflict, of immigrants and natives, of searchers and dreamers. A multitude of precarious paths lie ahead of every quest, but while there is a darkness at times, the album questions the fatalistic view and eventually points to hope.

Trails & Guns was produced by Tomás Peralta and mixed and mastered at Candy Bomber Studio in Berlin.

Track list

1. Hampton Roads

2. Bar Talks

3. 1848 (The Takers)

4. Bulldog Canyon

5. Jacob’s Waltz

6. Hidden Force

7. The Cold

8. Elzic’s Return

9. Trails & Guns

10. Interlude

11. Winding Way

12. Sweet Little Fly