What do you get when you invite a bunch of touring songwriters to hang out in your studio for a week, eat, drink, and maybe write a few tunes? That’s what happened at Fox Run Studio near Boston in the summer of 2015. It has become a yearly pilgrimage for Neale Eckstein, Jagoda, Matt Nakoa, Tom Prasada-Rao, and Eric Schwartz. The group’s philosophy is simple: write it, record it, release it. Nearly all of their thirty-plus songs were recorded the very same day they were written. During the 2020 lockdown, the fab five went virtual for the writing and recording of the song Strange Times.
An invitation to perform at the 2021 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival signaled the time was right to produce an album (aptly named “Strange Times”) of Fox Run Five favorites.

"The best band you never heard of" - The Patch

Neale Eckstein is a songwriter, engineer and visual artist from Sudbury MA. He has been producing music and videos at his Fox Run Studio for more than 20 years. He has two CDs of his own music and has engineered and produced projects for dozens of artists. He also is known by many as a landscape and wildlife photographer as well as documenting the folk music scene. In his former life, Neale practiced pediatric dentistry for over 40 years.

Jagoda is a drummer, percussionist, and producer born and raised in the bowels of New York City. He now spends his time out west teaching farmers how to parallel park their tractors as well as working diligently on getting a gig as the drummer for the local junior roller derby league.

Matt Nakoa is a modern troubadour who frequently appears with folk music icon Tom Rush. The Boston Globe has declared him “a hot-handed phenom who can go from Chopin to beer-drenched honky-tonk in one set.” The rest of the Fox Run Five affectionately refer to him as, “The Kid.”

Tom Prasada-Rao is a musician's musician - an unassuming presence on the folk scene since the early nineties. His voice belies his musicianship and his extraordinary songs. From Rishi’s Garden with it’s homage to Ravi Shankar to the groove of Sleeping Beauty , Tom’s music is melodic, ambitious, and reverent. A year ago Tom Prasada-Rao wrote $20 Bill (for George Floyd) which Peter Blackstock of the Austin American Statesman called: “song of the year probably – I mean this is a song Bob Dylan should cover”.

Eric Schwartz is a singer/songwriter, performer, satirist, multi-instrumentalist and entertainer Eric Schwartz has been prodding and wooing folk audiences for twenty five years. His songs have been sung by Ronny Cox, Holly Near and Van Dyke Parks. Eric is currently pursuing a masters degree in Music Therapy in Boston.


Visit:
https://foxrunfive.com