no.258 | On the Greenbelt with Pete Stiles

Pete is my neighbor, a longtime follower of things PSO, and happens to be a killer mandolin and guitar player who has deep roots in the Austin music scene.
 
For this week’s PSO, instead of meeting up on the porch, we hiked and schlepped mic stands etc down to the Greenbelt, which is a 7.25 mile stretch of public land forming an oasis running through the south and central Austin. Barton Creek used to flow freely here back in the day, but the mega drought has left limestone canyons that feel a little like walking on the moon, if the moon has trees and oxygen.
 
We set up a couple mics and a field recorder and just went at it for about an hour. We had a few hikers stop by, and a father and son from Austria, who offered kind words of encouragement. The track we chose to share has a little of everything: great bird sounds, a spacey intro, and Pete’s face-melting mando calisthenics set against a crescendo of driving strums of guitar.
 

ABOUT PETE STILES

Here is little bit about Pete in his own words: From 1996 until 2008 I was the prodigiously full-tilt mandolin player for the alternative bluegrass band The Meat Purveyors, releasing 6 recordings on Bloodshot Records and touring extensively in North America. During the years that followed (and several that overlapped) I played lead guitar for various country acts in Central Texas including Ransom Tullis and The Luxury Liners, The Danged and D.B. Harris. Intertwined with that was more mandolin work, both live and in studio, for various Austin and Chicago based performers including The Austin Family Jewels and Dean Schlabowski of The Waco Brothers.
 
In 2019 (great timing for covid) I founded Mother Neff, a spiritual cousin to PSO (think Flaming Lips meets Grateful Dead), to stretch out from the limitations of 'roots rocks' both as a writer and instrumentalist. Mother Neff has numerous recordings on all the digital outlets for you to enjoy and performs regularly in Austin.
 
Dusting off the mandolin to record with PSO was an easy-flowing, natural fit, hopefully leading to innumerable future collaborations. Cheers!
 

LETS'S MAKE SOMETHING TOGETHER

I love to collaborate, remotely or in person, but if you have a piece you would like to feature on PSO (without contributions by me), by all means, please reach out!
 
Email us at info(at)porchswingorchestra.org

ABOUT PSO — THE WEB PROJECT

Porch Swing Orchestra is an art project begun on the web by Barry Stone that explores the interplay between still images, sound, and place.
 
Photographs and musical improvisations build a framework for deep listening and visual contemplation. Barry Stone plays acoustic guitar with a Fahey-inspired picking style mixed in with electronic effects, like My Bloody Valentine for a campfire. The sounds of the outside—bird calls, stray conversations, passing cars—become part of the music.
 
Stone scrambles the code and layers images taken on-site to channel chance operations into new imaginaries.
 
Most PSO pieces are made on Stone's front porch in Austin, Texas, but PSO has traveled to Spiral Jetty in Utah, the border town of Del Rio, Texas, Maine, and the San Juan Islands.
 
Each piece consists of a paired image and audio recording taken on site, uploaded to a standalone fullscreen homepage. Each piece is displaced by new pairs of audio and image. Past pieces can be accessed and streamed randomly via the PSO RADIO page.
 
Since 2018, PSO has collaborated with dozens of musicians, artists, poets, writers, and activists to publish over 240 unique combinations of images and sounds.

PSO PERFORMANCE

PSO performs live in unconventional venues such as Shield Ranch and the James Turrell Skyspace, The Color Inside, as a part of The University of Texas Landmarks Songs in the Skyspace Program. PSO was commissioned to create a unique set of visuals and audio compositions for the Texas Historical Commission for the Sounds of Liberty Hill Event Series at the French Legation in Austin, Texas.
 
Original projected imagery accompanies an immersive audio experience which can comprise field recordings, acoustic guitars, e-bow, synths, piano, and singing. PSO plays solo and often with others such as Bill McCullough, Leslie Moody Castro, and longtime collaborator Paul Stautinger.
 
PSO also curated a series of live events, VAST IS THE SEA, at Co-Lab Projects in Austin, in which 8 artists presented works combining images and sound over four weekends.

PSO EXHIBITS

PSO has been the subject of many gallery presentations. PSO has exhibited in solo shows at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery in New York, ICOSA in Austin as a Soundscape artist, and the Galveston Arts Center.

PSO RELEASES

PSO has released two full length lathe cut vinyl records, a full length CD, a split virtual seven inch EP with The Reformers, and two Cassette EPs.
 
Releases can be purchased on BANDCAMP or at BARRYSTONE.COM
 
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To experience selected past pieces, listen to the PSO RADIO, or stream us on TIDAL in the links below.