Orange Risdon

Orange Risdon was a land surveyor in the early 1800s, working for the Government plotting out the largely unmapped state of Michigan. He eventually settled there, founding a small rural community he named Saline after the rich salt deposits left there by unruly seas in bygone eras. His bones remained untouched until his spirit of exploration and archaic cartography was resurrected by the optimistic young songwriter Mike Goodale and his cynical friend Zac Johnson. The songs they constructed rang with the traditional folk simplicity of the earlier ages, but electric guitars hummed softly in their ears. Knowing full well that two men were not enough for an undertaking of this magnitude, the duo combed through Ann Arbor's music community, seeking only the kindest of bassists and drummers, relying on only their wits and a mixture of expensive tequila and cheap Rolling Rock beer to guide them. Luckily, Naming Mary/Dapsyche/Musical Geniuses' bassist Jamnes Welshons and firefighter/percussionist Martin Juarez answered the call. In an effort to capture their acoustic-based American pop on record, they recorded a five-song EP, entitled Ocean Floor, in autumn of 2001, and after that, their lives were never quite the same. ~ Amanda Hugginkis, All Music Guide