Stars and Satellites

Stars & Satellites
Studio album by Trampled by Turtles
Released	2012
Genre	Indie folk
Label	BanjoDad Records
Trampled by Turtles chronology
Palomino (2010) Stars & Satellites (2012) Live at First Avenue (2013)

Stars and Satellites is an album by Minnesota-based bluegrass group Trampled by Turtles, released April 10, 2012, on their label BanjoDad Records. According to Dave Simonett, the creation of their sixth studio album started in the fall of 2011. Their studio was a log home outside Duluth, where they moved furniture aside, set up some microphones and started to develop the album. Trampled by Turtles made their network television debut at the end of April 2012 on the “Late Show with David Letterman”, where the band performed “Alone”, one of the slow tempo songs from the Stars and Satellites album.^[1] They also played the song “Walt Whitman”, which has a frantic and upbeat melody, but it's tempered with Simonett's almost melancholic lyrics, from the Stars and Satellites album on ”The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.” ^[2] The album has been on Billboard's bluegrass charts since April 18, 2012 and currently is in the second spot. It was also No. 14 on the Billboard Folk Album Chart and peaked at No. 32 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart.

According to Keith Goetzman, Trampled by Turtles have built a reputation and a fan base from playing punk-tempo bluegrass.^[3] For instance Reed Fischer states, the song "Wait So Long," a track from 2010's chart-topping Palomino, proved to be just the song to make a rowdy audience.^[4] But on their latest album, Stars and Satellites, they slowed their pace and take a more contemplative approach to making music. Lead singer Dave Simonett said, “From the start we knew that we didn’t want to go back to trying to recreate a live show with our new endeavor. We wanted to make a record that breathes. We wanted it to feel and sound warm and more like one piece of work than several pieces put together.”^[5] Amazon.com states that they have sold out 95% of the shows played in 2011 as well as playing the main stage at divergent festivals such as Coachella and Telluride and the buzz around their latest album has much to do with it. Melding rock, punk, and indie influences, Trampled by Turtles is creating a unique sound from a traditional music form.^[6] South by Southwest writes, Trampled by Turtles employs many of the same traditional techniques of the genre, but their differences in influences, attitude and attack make for their unique sound.^[7]

All songs written by Dave Simmonett, except where noted.

Personnel

Trampled By Turtles

• Dave Simmonett - lead vocals, guitar
• Tim Saxhaug - bass, backing vocals
• Dave Carroll - banjo, backing vocals
• Erik Berry - mandolin
• Ryan Young - fiddle, viola, backing vocals, mandolin, viola da gamba, saw

Guests

• Eammonn McLain - cello on "Alone"
• Erik Koskinen - lap steel on "Widower's Heart"
• Tom Herbers - percussion
• Alone Choir: Sarah Krueger, Hattie Peterson, Michelle Seery
• Crying Wind Choir: Blake Shippee, Dan Huiting, Ryan Thompson, Sarah Krueger, Hattie Peterson, Michelle Seery

References

1. Saunders, Hilary. "Watch Trampled by Turtles on the Late Show with David Letterman". Paste. Paste. http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2012/04/watch-trampled-by-turtles-on-late-show-with-david.html. Retrieved 25 August 2012.