Another “mini-album” collection, blooming as summer ends much like the vibrant Solidago (Goldenrod) lining the roadsides and horizons of Michigan. Just as the plant symbolizes healing and prosperity (“to make whole,” per one folklore phrase), this collection of tunes rounds up the scattered byproducts of the “Volume 3” sessions with a handful of spontaneous new recordings that point the way to the next phase of Wild Honey Collective. This time we’ve got 3 band originals (including one originally done by The Plurals and another – in an alternate mix – featuring Dead Honey Collective), the first studio sessions to feature Jack as a band member, another Carter Family traditional favorite, songs originally recorded by Lemonheads and Gene Clark, plus contributions from a range of friends including the ubiquitous Jerry Wenger, the future of music Liam, Medium Build low-end anchor Steve Hartmann, and the finely tuned ears of Rick Johnson.
Mixed and Mastered by Rick Johnson. Recorded Winter 2023 – Summer 2025, mostly by Tommy at McGorgers/GTG House South with sessions at Patty’s Lake House, Holiday Drive, and GTG House. “The Outdoor Type” primarily recorded by Rick at Cold War Studios. Additional recording by Timmy, Adam, Jerry, and Liam.
Tommy McCord – vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin, electric 6 and 12 string guitar, bass Danielle Gyger – vocals, fiddle Adam Aymor – pedal steel guitar, dobro, electric guitar Timmy Rodriguez – vocals, bass Dan O’Brien – vocals, acoustic guitar, upright bass, harmonica, baritone guitar Joel Kuiper – drums, percussion Jack Schueler – vocals, acoustic guitar (“Wild Honey,” “Through Munising,” “Wildwood Flower”) Jerry Wenger – upright bass (“Wildwood Flower) Nicholas Merz – vocals, bass (“Through Munising”) Steve Hartmann – bass (“The Outdoor Type”) Liam VanDerHeide – electric guitar (“Train Leaves Here”)
Out now – 3 original songs by Dead Honey Collective, recorded in spring of 2025. 2 original songs by Jack Schueler, plus the summer 2025 Joel Kuiper-penned single “Through Munising” (featuring the whole Wild Honey Collective). YouTube / Spotify / Apple
Tommy says: The lines between these projects is intentionally blurry, reflecting the improvisational spirit at its core. Wild Honey Collective has always been a dynamic musical project, and along the way we organically started including country and folk songs with Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia project associations (“I Know You Rider,” “Shady Grove,” “Dreadful Wind and Rain,” “Sing Me Back Home,” “Mama Tried” etc). At a very early Wild Honey performance we were lucky to have Jack Schueler in the audience, who immediately identified the formative influences of the band, beginning a friendship and gradual series of collaborations and sit-ins. When we (Adam, Joel, and myself) started exploring the improv-heavy Wilderhoney spinoff, it was a natural entry point for Jack to play more, and since Nicholas Merz had sang on our latest EP he was tapped to play bass. We did approximately one-and-a-half shows as “Wilderhoney” before it became obvious that we should focus on exploring the rootsy-angle of the Dead since it was such a big part of our musical venn diagram. Thus, at the beginning of 2024 we started performing as Dead Honey Collective, with no plan besides playing music from all of our catalogs and leaning on the country/folk edges of the Dead (including New Riders of the Purple Sage, Old & In The Way, Jerry Garcia Band, et al), and from the first set it was obvious that we should keep doing this. Now we have original songs, a huge catalog of Dead-family material, plenty of other things we play just for fun, and the whole “collective” continues to create together. Now we’ve gotta get some live recordings together…
Summer 2025 – the hazy vision of the “collective” has reached a new peak with the release of the song “Through Munising.” An original composition by Joel Kuiper, Tommy McCord’s lead vocal and musical arrangement was worked up amidst our Grateful Dead-focused Dead Honey Collective shows and elevated by Jack Schueler’s brilliant guitar playing and harmony vocal singing. The propulsive rhythm section of Joel and Nicholas Merz provided the perfect foundation for Adam Aymor’s celestial pedal steel workouts and the ensuing harmony interplay between Adam, Jack, and Tommy. The basic track was cut live in Tommy’s basement in March, at which point the rest of the principal Wild Honey Collective players – Danielle Gyger, Timmy Rodriguez, and Dan O’Brien – sweetened the arrangement with additional singing, fiddle, and harmonica. Adam mixed the recording, resulting in one of the purest pieces of collaboration in the Honey & GTG musical universe. An ode to a beautiful drive through the Upper Peninsula, with hints of a melancholy reality creeping in on the edges, “Through Munising” is a wonderful piece of collective creativity that we’re proud to deliver into the weird world of 2025.
Joel Kuiper – drums, composition Tommy McCord – lead vocals, guitar, recording Jack Schueler – harmony vocals, guitar Adam Aymor – pedal steel, mixing Nicholas Merz – bass, harmony vocals Danielle Gyger – harmony vocals, fiddle Timmy Rodriguez – harmony vocals Dan O’Brien – harmonica
The 5th full-length from The Plurals, originally issued as 3 EPs: Mumblebee (May 2019, tracks 1-5) Grumblebee (December 2019, tracks 6-9) Stumblebee (June 2020, tracks 10-15)
Mostly recorded by Tommy at GTG House (Lansing, MI) from fall 2018-spring 2020, with final quarantine-era sessions at Chim Cham’s Cry Shack (pre-flooded basement, also the backyard) and incorporating elements recorded by Isaac Vander Schuur at Epiphany Sound (Dimondale, MI) in fall 2012, plus various GTG House archives. Songs 1-5 mixed by George Szegedy, songs 13 and 15 mixed by Eric Merckling, the rest mixed by Tommy. Mastered by Tommy at McGorgers/GTG House South in January 2025.
Tommy says (January 23, 2025):
BEES is back on streaming, remastered and presented as one release for the first time.
Our scattered 5th album is my favorite Plurals release, and in a lot of ways it sums up the whole first 20 years of this band. Its creation started in a convoluted manner (Hattie had temporarily moved across the country to start her family and Nich and I put together new songs – based around my newfound acoustic guitar passion – that they then both played drums on) and ended in a much more convoluted manner (spring 2020 plans to finish writing and recording stray ideas were, uh, permanently derailed by The Pandemic but in my possibly misguided determination I built a new studio, used everything ranging from cell phone videos and rough demo tracks to create the foundations for the last batch of songs, recorded Hattie singing outside, then the day after I mixed it the basement flooded and I took the studio down). After the pro studio Nashville excursion of Swish we went back to home recording and self production and by the end of the process Eric Merckling, Isaac Vander Schuur, and George Szegedy had a hand in the audio end and Danielle and Timmy tightened up the vocals on some songs.
We had a plan to collect the songs together after issuing them as the 3 EPs in 2019 and 2020, but there was no chance of the band touring and we had a notion that we would revise the quarantine produced songs on Stumblebee but now when we do get together we just work on new material, and the initial distro deal for the EPs expired last year, so… here it is, together! There’s a vague Fuck Trump subtext throughout it so maybe it’s fitting? Who knows?? (Nobody.) All I know is it’s a batch of tunes I made with my friends that I’m really proud of so, turn it up. xoxo
GTG Records announces the release of Dynamite Alley, the new solo album from Jeremy Porter – the Detroit-based singer/songwriter and front-man for Jeremy Porter and the Tucos. The album is his first solo release since 2019’s 1987 EP and his first full-length solo album since Party of One (Mag Wheel Records, 2010). The album, named after a 1980 episode of the motorcycle cop-dramedy “CHiPs” (s03e23), with a nod to Rod Stewart’s second solo album Gasoline Alley, includes ten songs ranging from sparse acoustic numbers to cowpunk-rocking classics and country-rock tear-jerkers.
The album took a year and a half from the first sessions to release, after some direction changes and a busy touring schedule with The Tucos. “There were periods of great productivity, and there were periods where it sat for weeks on end. Sometimes life happens and you gotta dodge curveballs, but we got there in the end.” Porter says.
Dynamite Alley features a multitude of contributions from friends David Below (Jennifer Westwood, India Green) on drums, Jake Riley (The Tucos, Big Shoals, Matt Woods Band, The Social Workers) on upright bass, Fritz Van Kosky (The Regulars, Pete Moss & The Fungis) on electric bass and beats, Nick Raeon on banjo, Jay Gonzales (Drive-By Truckers) on piano, Wurlitzer, and organ, Doug McKeon (GC5, Bedroom Legends, Magpies) vocals, acoustic guitar, and mandolin, Chris Yohn (Boys From the County Hell) on violin/fiddle, Noreen Porter on castanets, Harry Brish on accordion, Gabriel Doman (The Tucos, The Hotwalls) on bongos, Rachel Goldsmith on cello, and Liz Fornal (The Orbitsuns on harmony/backup vocals. GTG Records label-mates, touring partners, and collaborators The Wild Honey Collective are featured prominently with Tommy McCord on mandolin, Danielle Gyger on harmonies, and Adam Aymor on pedal steel guitar.
“It’s an all-star cast! Everyone brought their A-game and elevated it way beyond anything I had planned.” Jeremy boasts. “It wasn’t always easy to wrangle everyone, but they were all very generous with their time and talent, and again, we got there in the end.”
The album was recorded primarily by Gabriel Doman (JP & The Tucos drummer/producer) at his Pharmhouse Studio in Dearborn, MI and Porter’s studio The Basement in Plymouth, MI. Tim Patalan (Sponge, The Fags) mixed it at The Loft in Saline, MI, and Dan Coutant (War on Women, Jawbox, The Sword) mastered it at SunRoom Studios in Windsor, NY.
The album will be released on limited-edition 180g vinyl, CD, and digitally on Bandcamp and all streaming platforms. Jeremy will spend the fall touring behind Dynamite Alley in a solo-acoustic setting across the midwestern and western US and Canada.
The first video from Dynamite Alley is “Big Spender,” filmed and directed by Noreen Porter in southeastern Michigan in July, 2024. The video includes several of the key players on the album and a super-cool 1998 Chevy Silverado called “The Bobcat.”
GTG RECORDS 
