Suicide Squeeze describes “casual DIY constructions” from musicians as “the more honest contribution to the Americana lineage—the true homespun artform.” They are standing behind their words by reissuing Cotton Jones’ album The River Strumming in honor of its 15th Anniversary.
When Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw struck out on their own in the wake of the dissolution of their Indie-Folk outfit Page France, they continued their songwriting practice with a new project called Cotton Jones Basket Ride. Nau and McGraw were working on the material for their debut full-length Paranoid Cocoon (2009) when they realized they had an entire album’s worth of odds-and-ends from various recording sessions.
The resultant album, The River Strumming, was released in 2008 on St. Ives in a batch of 300 unique hand-packaged LPs. The River Strumming is a “document of a band exploring possibilities without the weight of expectation.” The band would eventually condense their name to Cotton Jones and make a name for themselves in the Indie world for their fusion of Folk and Psychedelic Pop.
Suicide Squeeze’s 15th-anniversary vinyl reissue of this out-of-print classic features updated artwork by Kayleigh Montgomery-Morris. The first pressing is limited to 1000 copies, with 400 on Suicide Squeeze-exclusive 180g half coke bottle green / half bone, and 600 copies on 180g black vinyl.
