Inspired by the burgeoning beauty of Brownfield sites on Chicago’s far southside, Calumet is a tribute to reconnecting with nature amidst chaos in a grizzled industrial landscape. Calumet speaks to chronic stress and worry colliding with hopes of better things for the next generation. 
 
Jake Vinsel previously worked for many years as a sideman in numerous projects in and around Chicago. Calumet is his first project as a songwriter. He is joined here by his older brother, Lee Vinsel (author, professor, co-creator of The Maintainers, and voice of the podcast “Peoples and Things”), Joe Adamik (Califone, Iron & Wine), Bill MacKay (Bill MacKay and Riley Walker, Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles, etc.), and Erik Hall (In Tall Buildings, NOMO, Wild Belle). The 11 songs are a collage of both home and studio recordings that were sent back and forth throughout the pandemic, and engineered and produced by Hall at his remote farmhouse studio.

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