They printed CDs, which they sold for actual money at their shows, and a limited run of vinyl. The Milk Carton Kids chose to exist in the in-between. Others were pushing vinyl, which seemed like a comical throwback at the time but has since proven timeless. Some artists at the regional Folk Alliance gatherings in those days were selling their music in dozen-song sets on thumb drives.
Exactly how an indie folk band could reify their music for their fans in that moment between the dominance of the tangible and that of the digital, was still somewhat of anyone’s guess. Back then, Apple’s music program was a behemoth bit of software you downloaded onto your machine and filled with songs that you had either purchased from their store in MP3 format or uploaded from a CD you had on a shelf in your living room. It’s hard to believe now, but those were still the days before Spotify’s dominance.
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Once at their microphones, they moved through a set of heart-rending originals from Prologue, an album they’d released for free online almost two years earlier, the power of which had landed them a slot at North America’s most storied folk music festival. But the singer-songwriters seemed jovial enough, ready to take the stage under the shade of the tent. I felt a pang of pity for Ryan and Pattengale’s underarms, pressed below so much suit and tie, in that heat. Farther, Newport Harbor, the Atlantic, beyond.
Over the fort walls, a mainstage and field crowded with people.
Both were recognizable from a distance in their matching clothes. Next to him, taking up slightly less space, was his bandmate Kenneth Pattengale, also shouldered in black with fashionably disheveled hair. A knot of folkies stood chatting by the tent and among them I spotted the towering head and black-coated shoulders of Joey Ryan from behind. I made my way through the thick walls of the fort, toward a tent where The Milk Carton Kids were scheduled to play. Heavy sun drew sweat down backs, around necks, like a river cutting a canyon between your shoulder blades. PROLOGUE TO PROLOGUE Written by Kim Reuhl from Milk Carton Kids’ Prologue 10th Anniversary Edition liner notes.
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