Album Notes

The Ytuarte Brothers write a strange kind of music. This CD is a collection of twelve of their most recent compositions.

Born in New York, they grew up in Queens. Early on they knew something was askew as they found themselves listening to Jimmy Dean, Marty Robbins and Frankie Lane while most of their friends where listening to other things. Was it the fact that these happen to be the only records they could get their hands on (when asked "why these records?" they will tell you "we sort of stole them, and that's all we could get"), or was it that they actually liked this music? We'll never know, but one this is clear - this early music had a profound influence on their musical compositions

The brothers have been playing and writing for many years. During a brief period in the 70s, they ventured into the depths of New York City to shop their material. The reaction was always the same - "we're not sure what to make of this" and of course, they received the classic "I don't hear it". They were not surprised at these reactions as they are not sure what to make of their material either. Thirty years later they still continue to write. Neither brother can afford the luxury of recording their songs in a studio or getting pro players - these are true home recordings - Manuel (in New York) records directly into his PC and Larry (now living in New Mexico) made his recordings on a four track cassette deck.

The music is mix of Western / Folk / Rock with an open approach to instrumentation - drums, strings, horns - whatever feels right at the time. They both "play a little of everything" and will state that their strength is the material and not the performances. Larry sings all his songs and Manuel enlists the help of others when it comes time for most of the vocals (brother Larry, Martha Trachtenberg, Kathy Fleischmann and Laura Hull). Their music often reflects some of their earliest influences and yet it is fresh, original and thought provoking.

Much of the material is "story like" as far as lyrical content is concerned. You will hear about a Kentucky Long Rifle that doles out justice in Cumberland Gap (Sarah Carey), how the words "What took you boys so long?" are the very last words that a gang of vengeful outlaws hears (The Four Horsemen), how a soldier dreams of her home town and the day that she will return (Santa Fe). Melodic stories with a South Western flavor - not what you'd expect from two songwriters born and raised in New York.

It's raw, home grown and zero budget, but the quality of the writing shines through the rough exterior.

So, here they are - unknown, unrefined, unsigned and pretty much unbelievable, the Ytuarte Brothers.


Manuel Ytuarte - Guitar, Bass, keyboards, drum programming and minor vocals
Larry Ytuarte - Guitar, Bass, keyboards, drum programming and lead vocals