Where to Begin was released on Friday, November 8 and is available at our shows, on this website and on all streaming services. This record was born from rehearsals during early summer in preparation for our 30-year career anniversary and Road Show held in Montana – which culminated with an unforgettable sold-out concert in Bozeman at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds. As we were looking back and relearning songs from our younger years, something surprising happened. We discovered new meaning, new life and deeper appreciation for them. It was as if these early songs were actually meant for this stage in our lives, and for our voices of today. This reflection has also been a rediscovery of who we are at our core – two friends who choose to write and craft music together – and then yearn to share our creations with others. 

For Where to Begin we went back to where we began… at Peak Recording Studio in Bozeman. Our old friend Gil Stober, the very same engineer who in 1989 recorded our first tape, Chris & Johnny, was quick to welcome us, commemorate our 30-year mile marker and applaud the vision for this project.  We captured 12 tracks – some known by many for decades and others rarely, if ever performed, and maybe new to your ears. They are: Mentors, I Am a Lover, Whipporwill, Satisfied Land, Crescent Moon, She Holds My Heart Out In The Wind, Shapeshifter, Campfire on the Taylor Fork, Storm, Inside Emotion, Pancho & Lefty and Things I Love. We approached the recording exactly how we perform – the two of us playing our guitars and singing for live, in-studio captures… and counted on the magic of that synergy we’ve known and strived for for so long.

Hello all, Jim Kowitz here. Today is an exciting day at the Storyhill camp. For the first time in their 30 years of making music, Storyhill is releasing an album on vinyl! Our most recent live album, Stages, has been remastered, pressed and shipped and is now available to purchase through our online store. It is limited edition double LP with 22 tracks, including 6 that weren’t on the original Stages CD.

Stages was a fun and nostalgic album to create. After Chris and John decided to go on hiatus in 2015, I spent many hours listening to archives we have of them performing songs from Dovetail, Storyhill (self-titled) and Shade of the Trees. I also found great versions of their newest songs that I wanted all of you to hear. We discussed getting these recordings to you and working with our good friend @Alex Oana to make it happen.

Since I played a role in selecting the tracks for Stages, they are all meaningful to me. But if I had to pick two that standout, they would be Blazing Out of Sight and World Go Round. Blazing Out of Sight is a fun story song that provides so much imagery about young love situations. You can’t help but smile with you hear lines like “I just stood there watching the phone ring until it was done.” We’ve all been there!

World Go Round is Storyhill captured at their best. This may be my favorite song from the album. The quality of the performance, how succinct the guys were that night in Zumbrota, MN and the mastering Alex executed make this track timeless. This is the song I play when I want to a new listener to hear Chris and Johnny’s amazing talent!

If you want a total different Storyhill listening experience, I encourage you to get a copy of Stages on vinyl, you won’t be disappointed!

This coming summer marks a major milestone in our 30-year musical career!

After graduating from high school back in 1989, we spent a day at Peak Recording in Bozeman, Montana and made a record, a cassette simply titled Chris & Johnny. Little did we know back then how far that experience would take us; from weekly pub gigs in college, full-time national touring, landing a record deal with a highly reputable label, and many appearances on well-known, highly praised festivals, venues and stages (Kerrville, APHC, Mountain Stage, Falcon Ridge…the list goes on).

To celebrate this milestone with you, our loyal fanbase who have been listening and encouraging us all these years, we have created a customized one-time event – a 30th Anniversary Celebration – scheduled for July 24-27, 2019 to be hosted in and around our hometown of Bozeman in the most beautiful part of the state. We are so excited to be your personal hosts for this special experience and have two options for your participation and enjoyment.

Check out our 30th Anniversary Celebration page!

During our 2018 fall tour, we stopped by Minnesota Public Radio’s Radio Heartland for an in-studio interview and performance. Take a listen.

Radio Heartland

Stages will be released on Friday, November 16. The record includes 16 tracks recorded on several ‘stages’ we visited while touring between 2003 and 2015. Each individual track captures a moment in time when we knew there was connection. We connected with the people in the room, but also connected with each other. You may hear some ambient sounds in the background of some of the tracks, but you if you listen carefully, you’ll hear what some people call our signature sound: two voices, two guitars, and the tight ethereal harmonies that continue to surprise and delight old and new fans.

We are very excited about the work our Storyhill team put into making this album come to life. Once again, we turned to our good friend and audio wizard Alex Oana, with his keen ear and knowledge of our combined talents to mix a new live Storyhill album that you’ll enjoy for years to come.

Stages will be available on tour with us this fall, at our website and on all of your favorite online music platforms. Reserve your copy today!

Tour Dates

We are excited to hit the road after a nearly four-year hiatus from touring. We’ll be kicking things off this week with a quick trip through Minnesota and then heading west through Montana later in the month. Tickets are moving fast for our shows. Check out our tour stops below and get your tickets today if you’d like to see us on the road. More information is available on our newly designed website.

Here are our updated performance dates and locations:

MINNESOTA
Thursday, November 15, 2018 – SOLD OUT!    
The Loft at Studio J   
Stillwater, MN
7:30 p.m.
Tickets

Friday, November 16, 2018 – SOLD OUT!
State Theatre
Zumbrota, MN
7:30 p.m.
Tickets

Saturday, November 17, 2018 – SOLD OUT!
Hopkins Center for the Arts
Hopkins, MN
7:30 p.m.
Tickets
**WATCH THIS SHOW LIVE ON CONCERT WINDOW!**

Sunday, November 18, 2018
Sacred Heart Music Center
Duluth, MN
7:00 p.m.
Tickets

MONTANA
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Covellite Theatre
Butte, MT
7:30 p.m.
Tickets

Friday, November 30, 2018
KM Theatre
Kalispell, MT
7:30 p.m.
Tickets

Saturday, December 1, 2018
The Roxy Theater
Missoula, MT
7:30 p.m.
Tickets

Sunday, December 2, 2018 – SOLD OUT!
The Rialto
Bozeman, MT
7:30 p.m.
Tickets

New CD and Tour!!

Hello friends, 

It has been a couple years since we sent our last update. Hopefully this finds you well! While on hiatus from Storyhill, we’ve been busy with our individual projects, families, and careers. But during that time away, there has always been a calling to get back to it. Get back to making music together. Get back to sharing our music with you. Get back to this community that we’ve known and loved for nearly 30 years.

The wait is over. 

We’ve had the opportunity to play some pretty amazing stages during our time together. Since our ‘reunion’ in the early 2000s, our reach expanded and our fanbase grew. And while all of that happen, we played some great sets together. We were fortunate to capture some of those moments by recording shows at venues large and small across the country.

While away, we rediscovered some of these gems. Since we haven’t released a live record since 2002, we felt the time has come for a new live album. It is with great excitement that we announce the release of Stages.

Scheduled for release on November 16th, Stages captures 15 live performances of songs from our studio albums Dovetail, our self-titled disc Storyhill, Shade of the Trees and a couple unreleased songs. The Storyhill team has culled the archives to find individual performances that captured our ears and our hearts. Though the performances may not be perfect, each song archives a moment in our collective musical career that has meaning to us. And now, hopefully for you, too.

To get this new album into your hands and headphones, we’re launching a Kickstarter campaign to help fund its creation. Over the next 21 days, we’re looking to you, our Storyhill family, to visit the Stages Kickstarter website and contribute if you are able. We’ve put together some fun packages to reward you for your contributions to this record.

We need your help to make it come to life. As we work our way through the 21 day campaign, we will share updates on the album, including the track list, bonus disc tracks, and other information on this album. We are confident that you’ll love it. Head on over to our Kickstarter page and check out the campaign. 

Fall Tour!

To celebrate the release of Stages, and after a nearly four-year hiatus from touring, we are hitting the road for a tour through Minnesota and Montana. Ticket information is now available on our Shows page. We’d love to see you on the road and help us celebrate Stages.

We’re very excited to bring Stages into this world and reconnect with you on tour. It’s hard to believe we started this almost 30 years ago in our hometown of Bozeman, Mont. and have watched it grow into the community it is today. We thank you for your support throughout those years, whether we’ve been recording and touring, or taking time away to recharge our batteries and reignite our passion for performing.

Thanks for your love and support through all stages of our career. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Chris & Johnny
Storyhill