The Sixth Great Lake was originally thought to be a sister group to The Essex Green, as they once had much the same members: a country music answer to the Green's psychedelic 60's leanings. But over the years the lineup has narrowed so that now it only includes one member of the band--Chris Ziter--in addition to Zach Ward and ex-Green Michael Barrett (for the record, all are originally from Vermont's Guppyboy). They've released two splendid albums, both evoking comparisons to The Band and the folk/country/rock that was popularized in the early 70's. First was the well-received Up the Country on Kindercore Records, about which The Onion said, "Like The Ladybug Transistor, The Sixth Great Lake employs the best kind of recycling, finding new uses for old material whose value couldn't have been fully realized the first time around." Unfortunately, that album--like so many wonderful releases on Kindercore--went out of print when the label fell apart, and now awaits some kind of back-catalog resuscitation, such as Polyvinyl did with Of Montreal's. In 2004 the band resurfaced with the undervalued (and underheard) follow-up, Sunday Bridge, on Tup Keewah, their own label. The vinyl-only release came packaged with individual playing cards from various decks; recipients were encouraged to write to the band with a description of their card so they could chart the album's journeys through the world. The band's been silent in the three years since, but they're still recording.

Barrett writes, "This February, I spent a week at Zach's house in Freeport, Maine, recording rhythm tracks for some new Sixth Great Lake material. We got basic tracks for six originals and five or six cover tunes. We're planning on finishing them up this summer and tracking another batch for a possible new record." ApolloAudio has made Sunday Bridge available for download to all those without record players, and you can even still hear Up the Country at eMusic, so their back catalog isn't unavailable. Still, Barrett says, "Sunday Bridge never got a proper CD release, which is too bad. The vinyl sounds good, the MP3s are decent, but the record really sounds fantastic from the original CD master. Since Up the Country is now officially out of print, I would love to see a label package up both records for a double-album release, with a couple outtakes and live tracks."

Me too! But until that happens, here's a rarity from the band: a track available only on their limited edition tour CD from 2003. House of Cards featured demos, home recordings, and live tracks, and this, "Everything is White," which manages the usual Sixth Great Lake trick of sounding like an old standard that you've never heard before.

The Sixth Great Lake - Everything is White

You can order the vinyl of Sunday Bridge, and find more information, at the band's website.