“Supergroup”: that bitter taste in your mouth right now is a conditioned response to all those forced collaborations that consistently came up short (The Super, Super, Blues Band wasn’t all that super, Farm Aid). Gayngs is that, and exactly not that. Long song label to the stars Jagjaguwar instantly snatched them up, betting that the combined weight of 20+ of the Midwest’s either most popular or strongest budding musicians could indeed produce the fabled Shit. Those include: Bon Iver, POS, Dessa, Solid Gold, members of Digitata, and on down the beanstalk. It seems totally plausible that Gayngs will escape the super curse by following a new path all-in-together, picking and pruning members’ contributions as befits the huge goddamn groove floating right in the middle of the pan. Their first public release ends somewhere in the bar scene of Fire Walk With Me after seven minutes of baton passes and steady subtlety. Speaking to City Pages, Gayngs ringleader Ryan Olson said: “The only rule was, I just wanted every song to be 69 BPM, so it could be seamless.”

List of Gayngs members (had to):

Ryan Olson (Digitata), Zach Coulter (Solid Gold), Adam Hurlburt (Solid Gold), Joe Westerlund, Phil Cook (Megafaun), Brad Cook (Megafaun), Michael Lewis (Happy Apple), Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Ivan Rosebud (The Rosebuds), Stefon LeRon Alexander (POS), Mike Noyce (Bon Iver), Jake Luck (Leisure Birds), James Buckley (James Bukley Trio, Mystery Palace), Nick Ryan (Leisure Birds), Shön Troth (Solid Gold), Danny Krzykowski, Chaney Moon Cassell (Roma di Luna), Katy Morley, Maggie Wander, Maggie Morrison (Lookbook, Digitata), Joe Mabbott (Passions), Grant Cutler (Lookbook), Xander

You can hear the first release, “The Gaudy Side of Town”, at Minnesota Public Radio’s website.

You can read more about the beginning of the project here.

The Gayngs Sign

Raising the Gayngs Flag

Tan Lines

It’s not prom without Gayngs

The Gaudy Side of Town (NC-17)