Thirty two years may not seem like such a long time in the life of a human being, a tree or a folk song. But in the fickle world of modern music, where pop stars shy of their 21st birthdays often see their careers dumped into oldies bins, 32 years is a very long time. So as David Tamulevich and Michael Hough celebrate their 32th Anniversary as Mustard's Retreat, the same question seemed to burn among aspiring young performers and road-weary old folkies - why you guys?
In searching for the answer, one word comes up again and again, the simple word "audience." Everything Mustard's Retreat does on a stage is aimed at pleasing, moving and engaging their audience. Whether singing their own gentle love songs and vivid ballads, telling tall tales or offering treasures from America's vast traditional song bag, a Mustard's Retreat show always feels like it's designed for the people who have come to see them that day, in that coffeehouse, school, concert hall or festival. Audiences sense this from the moment David and Michael hit the stage, are drawn to it like hungry kids to Sunday supper and reward it the best way they know how. They come to see Mustard's Retreat again and again. And again.
"As much as we aim to entertain, we also look to educate," David Tamulevich said of the way Mustard's Retreat approaches audiences, "and hopefully enlighten and open some doors they maybe hadn't seen before. And ideally, to create a moment of community where everybody is sharing the same experience, the same idea, the same song. I mean, that's the only reason for me to be up there' we really want that connection to people."
"They are so warm and friendly and giving on stage, completely in touch with the audience," said Tom Paxton, a folk music star for nearly 40 years. "There are no barriers at all, and you just love to watch that and be part of it. But the thing that strikes me about them from Jump Street - and that makes it all work so well - is that their time is so tight. Michael is such a wonderful, simple bass player; his time is just flawless. And that's why two guys can move you musically the way they do - they have a gorgeous sense of time and tempo, a real musicality to what they do. They're nice guys on stage and entertaining as hell, but there's also music in them."
Michael and David met in 1974, in the college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, where they had attended the University of Michigan. Both were a little reluctant to see the collegiate part of their lives end, both feeling some nagging notion it was time to grow up and settle down, both resisting these unpleasant thoughts by spending as many idle hours as possible plunking guitars and singing folk songs with their friends.
"You see Michael's eyes and face when he sings," said David, "and you know he just loves to be on stage. He's like a big kid up there in a lot of ways, he really emanates that. And I tend to be a little more serious; there's a yin and yang, a flow to what we do together. He'll do sillier things, which usually gets me doing sillier thing, too. We're very different, but it's just obvious we really like singing together and bringing things out in each other. There's a chemistry that's worked from the first time we sang together."
That was at a 1974 open mike at the Ark coffeehouse in Ann Arbor. Once they discovered their shared love of folk music, they worked up three songs and took them to the club. They were immediately asked back for a showcase night, and within a couple of months were the "house band" at a local bookstore. Within a year, they were gigging full time at pubs, colleges, concerts and coffeehouses. The group's name does not come from a historical event or old fiddle tune, as is often believed, but from a musical chum named Nancy Mustard, who taught David a guitar slide, around which he wrote an instrumental called "Mustard's Retreat".
Through the years, they have released eight records, including an often hilarious live CD called "5 Miles or 50,000 Years," and a warmly reflective set of original songs called "Wind and the Crickets," which offers convincing proof of Tom Paxton's thesis that their stage antics work because they have the musical chops to go with them.
Roger, who produced "Wind and the Crickets", said, "Their music is community music. It comes from our common roots and traditions, pays tribute to those roots and expands on them. It is music that speaks to people's hearts and lives and binds them together as an audience. One watches couples react to the songs, the shared laugh. the sidelong glance and smile of recognition: "This song is about us! Nobody is just a spectator with Mustard's Retreat. Everybody is part of the show, and that is the exact definition of folk music for me, that inclusiveness, that notion that this music is for everybody."
And in the end, it is those audiences who hold the keys to Mustard's Retreat's long success, audiences who have made this group's music part of their everyday lives. As Spike Barkin said after seeing them at Lincoln Center, "At home with Mustard's Retreat is perhaps the best way to summarize the experience of seeing them live…go see them and make hundreds of new friends."
"The new songs of A Resolution of Something demonstrate their mastery of the skills of their trade, both as performers and songwriters." - Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
MUSTARD'S RETREAT: 5 Miles or 50,000 Years
"Live and at their quirkiest. An eclectic collection of slice-of-life songs, twisted tunes, ballads, and a children's story. The full spectrum of what Mustard's Retreat has to offer." - Kevin McCarthy, Kevin's Celtic & Folk Music CD Reviews "If you w
MUSTARD'S RETREAT: Back To Back
Midwinter's Night nominated for Best Folk Album of the Year (1987), National Association of Independent Record Producers "An exceptional album. Tender, intelligent, moving, fresh, and eclective." - The Ann Arbor News "If there were a specific form
MUSTARD'S RETREAT: The Wind and the Crickets
A coffee house and festival favorite with two of Mustard's Retreat's most requested songs: Gather the Family (a capella) and Let's Hear it for the Volunteers. "Achieves landmark status... Insightful and intricate... exquisite harmonies." - SingOut.
MUSTARD'S RETREAT: MR7
Traditional folk ballads, slice-of-life songs, twisted character tunes, and children's stories. Incredible instrumentation and lyrics from the legendary Michigan songwriting duo.
MUSTARD'S RETREAT: The First Album Plus
Material originally recorded and released in 1979 on vinyl by the legendary folk duo Mustard's Retreat. Available now on CD for the first time.
MUSTARD'S RETREAT: A Gathering of Moments
Traditional folk ballads, slice-of-life songs, twisted character tunes, and children's stories. Incredible instrumentation and lyrics from the legendary Michigan songwriting duo.
