Grubbs and Walker are both guitar-playing former Chicagoans who’ve recorded for the Drag City label and currently live in New York. They’re practically the same person. After digging one another’s recordings for some time, they started playing together—duo, quartet, whatever you got—in 2019. This live recording from a broiling night at a neighborhood bar in Ridgewood, Queens documents their first duo performance.

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David Grubbs / electric guitar

Ryley Walker / electric guitar

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Recorded by Jack Callahan at The Windjammer, Ridgewood, Queens, June 29, 2019. Mastered by Jack Callahan. Thanks to Alan Courtis, C. Spencer Yeh, and Asha Shehadri, with whom we shared a bill on this lovely evening.

David Grubbs was a member of the groups Gastr del Sol, Bastro, and Squirrel Bait, and has performed with the Red Krayola, Tony Conrad, Pauline Oliveros, Susan Howe, Will Oldham, and many others. His most recent book is The Voice in the Headphones (Duke University Press, 2020).

Ryley Walker is a guitarist and songwriter based in New York City. Multiple releases spanning multiple genres on Dead Oceans, Thrill Jockey, Drag City, American Tapes, and his own imprint—husky pants records.

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Cover design by Oli Barrett

Track listing:

1. Fight or Flight Simulator (24:22)