TONSTARTSSBANDHT

A few years ago, Bob Weir was telling a writer about his process, and how the notion of constantly becoming – of life being lived in a state of flux – doesn’t just apply to the ever-changing self, but to the things the self creates. Speaking of the song “Saint Of Circumstance”, which he’d been playing live for 40 years, Weir said, “I’m just starting to scratch the surface of what I can do with that.” This idea of a song as a living, breathing thing, a liquid portrait that sloshes to the borders of whatever frame is fixed upon it, is at the center of Edwin and Andy White’s work as TONSTARTSSBANDHT.

Through constant touring, the brothers’ songs both take shape and change shape, becoming something a little different every night as they explore the possibilities inherent within them. With time, attention, and intention, these songs – long, languid, full of open musical questions and temporary answers – become distinct objects, and the process begins again. On Petunia, the brothers’ 18th album and second for Mexican Summer, they bring us to the earliest moments of this process.