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Veteran St. Paul songwriter Martin Devaney returns with his eighth solo album--and 10th overall--Blueprint for a Ghost. The first release bearing his name since 2018’s Plaid on Plaid after a detour with his pandemic project Folios, Blueprint marks a return to form for Devaney, who worked with some old familiar friends to a craft warm bed of sound on which to lay his lyrical and literate tunes.
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11 track album. Pandemic project from Martin Devaney
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Veteran St. Paul songwriter Martin Devaney returns with his eighth solo album--and 10th overall--Blueprint for a Ghost. The first release bearing his name since 2018’s Plaid on Plaid after a detour with his pandemic project Folios, Blueprint marks a return to form for Devaney, who worked with some old familiar friends to a craft warm bed of sound on which to lay his lyrical and literate tunes.
During a trip to New York in the spring of 2023, he visited the Lou Reed Archive, among other literary and musical landmarks, and made his way to Woodstock to find the legendary Big Pink where The Band and Bob Dylan held court 50 years earlier. After seeing a show that weekend with the house band at Levon Helm’s storied barn and studio, Devaney returned to the Twin Cities with a recommitment to craft and community. Songs materialized quickly over the summer as Devaney and his band settled into their monthly residency at the White Squirrel Bar in St. Paul, where he also co-organized the Fort Road Folk Fest in July 2024.
Blueprint for a Ghost was recorded primarily in September of 2023 at Sparta Sound in Sparta, Minnesota with Rich Mattson (Minnesota songwriting legend and producer of Devaney’s House of Rust) and finished with Tom Herbers (Cactus Blossoms, Charlie Parr), who also mixed the record. Herbers worked most recently with Devaney on his Folios releases, but their collaborations go back to Devaney’s Somebody Somewhere (2002).
Rounding out the reunions are the band members themselves: Original guitar player Josh Peterson (Heiruspecs) and long-time bass player Matt Palin have returned to the lineup, along with drummer Ryan Lovan, who Devaney played with in Roma Di Luna. Guests on the album besides Mattson include Germaine Gemberling on vocals, AJ Srubas on fiddle, and Pete Sands (who played on the first three Devaney records) on various keyboards.
Blueprint for a Ghost is almost a year old and we're playing a couple of free shows* to celebrate! If you haven't had the chance, give it a spin or stream. We'll be going heavier on these tunes, and I'll be running a sale on all physical media at both of these shows.
The band and I will be hitting the great St. Paul record store Barely Brothers on Friday December 12 with Scott Hefte. Music 7-9, all ages. Shows here are a lot of fun and it's one of the best places in town to browse and buy vinyl.
This month's Third Thursday falls on 12/18 and our guest at White Squirrel is our old friend Dan Israel, who put out a couple of records on my old label Eclectone in the mid-2000s. I've been playing shows with Dan here and there for more than twenty years and he's still one of the busiest songwriters in these Twin Cities. Music from 6-8.
As always, sign up for the email list if you'd like regular updates, and we'll hopefully see ya at some shows. Have a safe holiday season out there in this increasingly scary climate.
*donations/tips in lieu of a cover charge are always suggested. Working musicians and all!
Wanted to let folks know that I have a poem published in this year's St. Paul Almanac! It's a fantastic annual publication that brings together voices from all walks of life in the city. I'll be doing a reading at the great St. Paul bookstore Next Chapter Books on Wednesday, October 29th with several other writers from 6-8pm. I'm fairly certain this is my first ever reading...no guitar to hide behind! Check out the links and look for the book around town!
Just a quick note this month that Thursday the 18th marks two years of our Third Thursday residency at the White Squirrel Bar. We've been very lucky to have these nights in the community. This month, I'll kick things off at 6pm solo, followed by a set with my alleged* friends at 7.
The following week, I'll be back at the Squirrel on Wednesday the 24th at 6pm as a guest on Sarah Morris and Doug Collins' monthly “Family Dinner” variety show.
And of course, after that, you can count on Third Thursdays continuing on 10/16 with a guest TBA.
Had a blast being a part of the closing festivities at Palmer's last night. What a crowd/scene/set/evening…what can I say? Played there dozens of times over the years, last night standing out as the most…singular of those. Its closing is sad from several angles, but we continue to till the earth (or fit in your own analogy) and find places to come together. Arguably the most memorable night there was the night before a bunch of us played at the Dakota with Al Kooper in about 2010 at the Dakota. Adam Levy had brought Kooper to for a tribute show to and with him, as Al had produced the Honeydogs' major label record. The post-rehearsal hang was at Palmer's to see Ryan Paul Plewacki's band and later moved to the patio where Kooper regaled us with unforgettable rock n' roll war stories. Check out his book for such tales, or catch me at the right time…
take care,
Martin
*long time dear companions
We had such a great time last year, it seems we are calling it the "second annual" Fort Road Folk Fest! Once again with a vintage and maker's market in the White Squirrel parking lot from 2-7. Food from the great Angry Line Cook. Free and all ages until 8, music 2-late on both stages! Thanks to Ally from Back Pocket Vintage for the poster design.
Thanks to Crystal at KZMU for spinning the record and chatting recently!
I recently had the honor of recording “Division St.” for the Adventures In Americana series North Country Song Sessions. It's a fantastic series and they are tireless in their support of local music. Songwriter and videographer Eli Gardner shot the video at the great downtown St. Paul bookstore Subtext Books. I don't know about you, but I really find peace walking around bookstores, that all-too-rare environment these days. Check it out below:
Put a new Laboratory and Lounge video up at the ol' YouTube channel the other night. “Lights Out” was the only song from the new record that we didn't do at the release show, so here's a little solo performance.
Have you ever dropped something greasy on the kitchen floor, maybe the leftover can of lard or something, and you get the main sludge up, but you’re down there on your hands and knees with some wet paper towels, trying to sop it all up, but you’re just kind of spreading it around? I find grief to be a lot like that.
Blueprint for a Ghost
An alchemist
never shows their tricks—
equal parts antenna
and wishing well.
Mixed up mystics
sing tarot card blues,
at home in the catacombs,
painting in broad strokes
with both missives
and misgivings.
Under a cement sky
two angels
passed out in the snow--
charcoal souls
yet to cast long shadows.
A pair apparently past their prime
stops time
while wedding bells ring out
from the tower at
Our Lady of Serendipity.
Meanwhile, a fragile mind
in a hardened shell
confuses a battle cry
for a mantra
and the post-stress hunger
for a fire in the belly.
On the morally ambiguous side of town,
at the cowboy bar
where tabs sit at half-staff,
a table of rockabilly ladies
reflect upon train beats and twirls,
trading places on the dance floor.
And the scrap metal eccentrics
accept the wrought iron fences
and the pinched chaos of alleyways
(no thanks to the snowbanks)
So go fetch the composite sketch,
substances and circumstances,
truth-telling and bloodletting,
all on the rarefied airwaves
of a clear afternoon.
It is best to document the disasters,
the dangers, the delight.
For fear entombs the senses
and you’ll need a map
to find your way back.
