Reviews
- Singout! Review {Autumn 2011/Winter 2012}
- Mad Folk News {December ’08}
- FAME (Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange) Review {November ’08}
- Ann Arbor News {August ’08}
- Community Newspaper Company/Gatehouse Media New England 2008 {July ’08}
- Green Man Review {2005}
- Green Man Review {1995-2002)
Quotes
“fresh, vital, relevant” – Robert Reid, Waterloo Record, ON, January 2015
“ these guys are not the ones you paid to see when you first heard them live. But you’ll buy a ticket the next time ‘round” – Andy Braunfeld, Program Chairman for the Philadelphia Folk Festival
“Mustard’s Retreat…come see them. They put words together beautifully.” – Utah Philips
“A pleasure to see and hear. Music to cure what ails you.” – Michigan Times
“The whole evening was a total delight!!! Not only do you both excel in your performing talents, but your genuine sincerity that you cared about your audience showed too.” – Ferris State College
Current magazine – ”one of the foremost Midwestern folk duos..a force to be reckoned with..” -picked as the Best Damn Folk Band in Washtenaw County Fall 2007.
“ When I listen to Mustard’s Retreat, I get speeding tickets. I get so lost in the songs that space/time cease to exist, and the next thing I know, it’s the flashing red lights and the warning “ Don’t listen and drive!” – Bridgett Ellis, Folk Director, WCNI, 91.1 New London , CT
“David Tamulevich and Michael Hough’s engaging stage presence, myriad of subject matter, and the sheer joy that they take in playing has made Mustard’s Retreat one of the most revered bands in folk music today.” – Madison Folk Music Society
”Mustard’s Retreat performs for the pure joy of it…infectious; never derivative…a simplicity in their music and performance that is rare and timeless.. there are people who d this professionally and competently. Mustard’s Retreat takes it t the next level.” – Rich Warren, journalist, programmer and on-air personality for The Midnight Special on WFMT, Chicago ( on the air for 30 plus years)
”In order to survive you need more than talent. Mustard’s Retreat has thrived because they have talent, clearly love their audience and being on stage, and know how to do a good show.” -David Siglin, programmer of The Ark, Ann Arbor , MI for 40 plus years
”Ann Arbor is home to many very talented musicians and performers, but perhaps none have garnered as much national acclaim and as avid a following as Mustard’s Retreat…audiences throughout the Midwest and East Coast have been enchanted by the duo…( a show) certain to evoke joy and the satisfaction of an evening well spent” – David Siglin, The Ark
” represent everything that is best about folk music… extraordinary songs, attention to details. Their music comes from our common roots and traditions, pays tribute to those roots and expands on them. It is music for real people about real things- life, love, sex and death- the big stuff.. ,and the songs have entered the lexicon of “ anonymous” folk songs and are being passed from hand to hand- which is the ultimate tribute to a songwriter.” -Garnet Rogers, singer/songwriter/producer/Mustard’s Retreat
” When I’m part of a co-bill I’m usually too nervous to listen to the act immediately preceding me . However, last year sat, utterly charmed, in the wings of the theatre, watching David and Michael work their spell on the audience. The audience roared for more when they finished. I hated having to follow them.” -Garnet Rogers
”Uplifting…joyful..the missing link between the traditional and the contemporary.” – Anne Saunders, programmer for the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
“ the highest quality of songs ….wonderful harmonies…the unique ability to break down the barrier between the audience and performer and create a warmth and intimacy…no matter what the setting they have the uncanny ability to make the listener think he or she is sitting in their living room with some friends…blends the feeling of inclusiveness and family that the Weavers has with contemporary feelings and sounds. “ – Spike Barkin , Lincoln Center
“… a quality that transcends … it reminds us of why we do this … pulls people together.. .in tune with the audience. .outlast the trends.” – Margie Rosenkranz, programmer for the Great Hudson River Revival and the Eighth Step ( Albany , NY )
“Mustard’s Retreat represents everything that is best about folk music. Their music is community music. It comes from our common roots and traditions, pays tribute to those roots and traditions and expands on them. It is music that speaks to peoples hearts and lives and binds them together as an audience.
To watch a Mustard’s Retreat show is not to see a formal ”performance” but something more real and precious: a sharing of songs and experience- Michael and David unfold their songs, whether traditional or contemporary or their own extraordinary compositions and one sees the audience being invited into their world and drawing closer together. One watches couples react to the songs-the shared laugh, the sidelong glance, and smile of recognition- “ this song is about us!:- the squeeze of the hand or shoulder.
It is music for real people about real things- life, love, sex and death- the big stuff- and the songs have entered the lexicon of “ anonymous” folk songs and are being passed from hand to hand- which is the ultimate tribute to a songwriter.
In an every widening “ market” where everyone seems to be “ the next big thing” and we are overwhelmed by and endless string of sensitive sullen poseurs who keep one eye on the bottom line and the other on the nearest mirror, David and Michael stand out as the real thing: two grown men singing grown up songs for all the right reasons ; writing to make sense of their lives, helping us to make sense of ours, sharing much, talking little, trying to find the most graceful path and being able to laugh at the inevitable stumbles and head bumps along the way- here’s to another 25 years.” – Garnet Rogers
“Mustard’s Retreat is nothing short of inspirational.” – Sarah Zettel, award-winning author of Dust Girl, Bitter Angels and A Taste of the Nightlife.
“Mustard’s Retreat puts the fun in folk! Whether a fresh take on an old classic or one of their own new classics, like Simple Faith, the songs of David Tamulevich and Michael Hough were spun with an infectious joy that was impossible to resist! Before you knew it, everyone was tapping a toe or lifting a voice to join in the fine musicianship that David and Michael were sharing from the stage.” – Catherine Kasmer, Lake County Folk Club, IL
Album Specific:
THE WIND AND THE CRICKETS
” … it’s just such a superior piece of work … and the writing, too, is wonderful” – Tom Paxton
“ Achieves landmark status … insightful and intricate…exquisite harmonies.” – Singout!
HOME BY THE MORNING
“…an exceptional album. Tender, intelligent, moving, fresh and eclectic.” – Ann Arbor News
”…by far one of the best new albums I’ve heard lately. Highly recommenced.” – Canadian River Music
“ Superb throughout.” – WMNF, Tampa, FL
“one of the finest LP’s of last year.” – WCVT, Towson, MD – “I am simply enchanted with the most recent selections sent to us by Eagle Records (most especially Mustard’s Retreat) and the feedback from listeners has been wonderful too.”
MIDWINTER’S NIGHT
“ If there were a specific formula for creating a successful album, this one would have to be a textbook example!” – SingOut! Magazine
Nominated for Best Folk Album of the Year ( 1987) by National Association of Independent Record Producers
“..there’s class aplenty. The effects quite captivating, certainly mature music which refuses to be pinned own or pigeon-holed.” – Folk Roots
“Excellent …amazed at their poetry and storytelling ability … has more of the magic that made the last ( album) so special, and that was a hard act to follow.” – Canadian River Music
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’ story … the full spectrum of what Mustard’s Retreat has to offer.” – Kevin McCarthy, Kevin’s On Live Reviews
MR7
” What a pleasure..rings with exquisite lyric and melody..brilliantly crafted songs…” – Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
” I have heard the song. Simple Faith, and think its wonderful……It’s a fine album, my friend. Congratulations.” – Peter Yarrow, Peter, Paul & Mary
1st Album Plus
” ..a splendid album … terrific….if I had listened to it when it first came out, you would have been on the First Roots of American Music Festival” – Spike Barkin, Lincoln Center
