We’re happy to present Assorted Jams Volume 2. Some folks might remember Assorted Jams Volume 1, which was released as a pre-order bonus for Dwellings back in 2011. Since then, we’ve continued to roll tape during practice, capturing these organic, in the moment, spontaneous jams. After going through hours of practices, we’ve collected some of the best jams here.

Every practice begins with one of these. It starts differently every time: Brennan playing a beat, Matt/Nick noodling on a random lick or Marcus playing a bass line that the next person picks up on and adds to until it runs its course. These jams are unplanned without preconceived ideas, no rules imposed on musical expressions, helping us warm up both our hands and our minds. Occasionally, an idea will be used for a song, but most of the time they’re forgotten as quickly as they were created, which makes listening to them fun for us, too, like hearing them for the first time. Fortunately, we’ve gotten in the habit of setting up the mic at practice, as there are some pretty interesting (occasionally magical) musical journeys showcased here, warts and all.

These jams were recorded primarily with a Zoom H4N set in the middle of our rehearsal room at about 2’ high pointed down at the kick drum, with the guitars on each side and the bass behind. They were then bounced down on one of our computers and forgotten about until now. We felt it would be interesting for folks to hear this side of our band considering it has been a part of us since the beginning, before the Last Tree days.

So, here they are, the jam band occasionally known as Cormorant.

PS: Crank the volume as these tracks are unmastered!