Strawberry Lake are a band from Dexter, Michigan, made up of two father-and-son duos: Martin Fletcher on vocals and guitar with his son Carter on bass, and Jim Pulford on drums with his son Cole on guitar and backing vocals. Their debut single Other Spaces is out now, and it previews their debut album Forever, due in early 2027.
The band came out of tragedy. Jim's son Gage died in a car accident on 26 June 2022, just three weeks after graduating from high school. He had long dreamed of getting his friends' fathers, many of them musicians, together to play, and after he died Jim and Martin did exactly that and brought their sons in too. They have been playing venues around Ann Arbor and Detroit for the past few years.
Other Spaces is about trying to escape personal troubles through nightlife and other distractions, only to find the problems are still there. At its heart is an on-and-off relationship between two people who want to be close but struggle to communicate. Martin says it was one of those songs that songwriters call gifts, written in 10 or 15 minutes, with the rest just editing and polishing.
The press release likens it to the ragged charm of The Replacements, the introspection of Wilco and the rootsy rock of Tom Petty. A Big Takeover review calls it superb, with "all the familiarity and pleasure of a good rock song".
A band that exists because a teenager wanted his friends' dads to play together is a good enough reason for me to put this one up. I'm glad to back Strawberry Lake, and it's good to see a first single from a group who are carrying that idea forward rather than just remembering it.
The song was recorded at Monkey Holler Recording in Nashville, produced by Michael Feeney and mastered by Geoff Michael at Big Sky Recording in Ann Arbor. The album artwork is by Al Brandtner of Chicago. Forever has 8 tracks, including One on One, Versions of Me, Unbeatable Team from China and Farmtown Rita.
Listen: https://strawberrylake.bandcamp.com/track/other-spaces
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5WvImVFsm7x3q8PQMROKqv
YouTube: https://youtu.be/DSmav2tmf4Q