It’s taken years, more than a decade, for me to write this post. I’ve been enjoying Downy Mildew’s records for such a long time, it is time now.

What made me write about them was that I’ve been reading the book “Miracles and Wonders: A Meandering, Cacophonous Concordance of The Jazz Butcher Songbook” by the late Pat Fish and Philip Snow. I’m only on the first chapters and I discover The Jazz Butcher were very good friends with the Californian band Downy Mildew. They toured together and all.

This made me curious again. I have both Downy Mildew’s albums on CD. They are great. I know there are a few other records, and even though I don’t have them (yet), you can listen to them online.

When I listen to the song “Burnt Bridges” I get the chills. I have DJed this track a few times in the past. It is such an indiepop hit. Should have been big. “Purple Parlor” is another favorite of mine. Start with these two.

The band was formed in Los Angeles in 1984 according to Wikipedia. I always though they hailed from San Luis Obispo. Discogs says they hailed from the latter. The band would be active until 1995.

The band’s classic lineup was Jenny Homer on guitar and vocals, Charlie Baldonado on vocals and guitar, Nancy McCoy on bass guitar and Mike Marasse on drums.

Marasse won’t appear on the band’s first recording. Instead we see Jason Kahn on drums credits on their first EP, a self-titled one released by the label Texas Hotel (Texas Hotel 1) in 1986. This 12″ had four songs, “Experience in the Far Southwest” and “The Drive” on the A side and “Purple Parlor” and “Bad Dream” on the B side.

The following year the band releases “Broomtree” their debut album. It comes out on Texas Hotel (Texas Hotel 4) in the US and also on Glass Records (GLALP 025) in the UK. The record has 10 songs, “Frown Song”, “The Kitchen Pt. III”, “Good Dream” and “Hollow Girl” on the A side and “Ocean Motorkid”, “Burnt Bridges”, “That’s Enough of That”, “Sally Pt. II” and “Everybody’s Gone”. On this record we do see Marasse on drums. So this is the classic lineup and perhaps the finest moment of the band. The songs, mainly penned by Baldonado and Homer are terrific. They are engineered by Earle Mankey and mastered by John Golden. On the credits we se that Jenny Homer played violin, that Nancy McCoy played cello, Mike Marasse played autoharp. It is indeed a record with lots of interesting and pretty arrangements. One to discover new bits every time you listen.

The art is also quite cool. The band put it together with the help of Jeff Gans. There is a mystery here to me. It says on Discogs this little piece of info for the Glass release: “Label: movie still from “Texarkana March” by J.M. Stipe. Thanks also to Liz, Crash, Monalia, Jamie, Jeff, Susan, Randy and thanks especially to michael meister for EVERYTHING.” I am curious about this Texarkana March movie. On the label I see a band photo. I couldn’t find information about this movie.

The CD version of this album would be released in 1993 by High Street Records in the US. This release would include 4 more songs, yes, you guessed it, the same ones from the “Downy Mildew” EP.

In 1988 the band releases “Mincing Steps” on Texas Hotel (TXH 10). This time it comes out in vinyl and cassette. It includes once again 10 tracks, “Offering”, “Turning Yourself Around”, “Tangled Ladders”, “Six Flights” and “Floorboard” on the A side and “The Big Surprise”, “Misfortune”, “Inside Her House”, “Flower Song” and “All Is Not Well in this House” on the flipside.

On this release we see John Hofer replacing Marasse as the drummer. Also Salvador Garza contributes violin and cello. he would later join the band full time. Marie Homer, I suppose sister of Jenny, plays flute on “Misfortune”.

High Street Records would again release the CD version in 1993. This time no bonus tracks. One thing that is cool and interesting is that there was a promo video made for the song “Offering” that was directed by Michael Stipe from R.E.M.

In 1992 the band releases “Cool Nights”. This 7″ single on Triple X Records includes the title song on the A side and a cover of the Bacharach/David song “Walk on By” and a mash up of “Sunday Morning” by the Velvet Underground and “Leaving on a Jet Plane” by John Denver. The A side is produced by Andy Gill from Gang of Four.

High Street releases in 1992 another album, “An Oncoming Train”, on cassette and CD. No vinyl. Ten songs again, “An Oncoming Train”, “A Borrowed Chant”, “Trading Jewels”, “Elevator”, “Twice Told Tale”, “Six Months is a Long Time”, “Seconds Protest”, “Melissa, I Know the Difference”, “Sleep!” and “Child”. There is a promo CD-single too with the track “An Oncoming Train” and nothing else.

“Elevator” is picked as the single to promote the album. In 1992 a CDEP is released by High Street Records with the tracks “Elevator (Album Version)”, “Cool Nights (Triple X 7″Single Version)”, “‘Til I Die” (cover of The Beach Boys) and “Lady Day and John Coltrane (Live)”. This last one more being a well known song by Gil Scott-Heron and recorded by the band live at Club Lingerie in Hollywood. Rob Jacobs is the drummer on “Elevator” and “‘Til I Die”. John Hofer drums the other two.

1993 the label High Street Records promotes the band to the radios with a compilation of songs of different releases. “Left Foot Down” gives the name to the promo sampler and it is also the opening track that will be included in the forthcoming album “Slow Sky”. Then there are “The Kitchen”, “Six Months is a Long Time”, “Offering”, “Sally Pt. II” and “An Oncoming Train”, all of these songs included in previously released records.

“Slow Sky” releases in 1994. Again on High Street Records. This label was a subsidiary of Windham Hill Records that was mainly focused on singer/songwriters. Eventually the label was merged with BMG.

This time around the band has 14 new songs, “Your Blue Eye”, “Left Foot Down”, “Release”, “A Polka Dot-Scarved Woman”, “Girls by the Lake”, “A Liar Needs a Good Memory”, “That He Wrote”, “Them That Dream”, “Machine”, “Sidewinding Home”, “Don’t Change Your Mind” and “I Remember Yesterday”. The songs were recorded at two studios, Somnambulist and Simon’s Ghost.

These songs were mixed by Tchad Blake.

On the credits we see some new names, James Brenner playing bass, Janine Cooper, formerly from Pet Clarke who replaces Nancy McCoy, also playing bass and Greg Adamson playing cello.

Catherine Lorenz and Marina Chavez took the nice photography and Catherine designed the artwork.

But that’s not all they left us. They also appeared on many compilations. Though they are not exclusive songs, they all appeared in their releases.

In 1988 their song “Frown Song” gets included in a tape and CD compilation called “All-Ears Review Volum 1 (The Hottest New Sounds from African to Jazz to Rock to Zydeco)” released by ROM Records. That same year “Offering” appears on “Texas Hotel: Big Yard” a cassette sampler by the Texas Hotel label (Acre One).

1992 their song “An Oncoming Train” appears on “The BMG Collection 1992 Volume 1” triple CD compilation and also on “The Album Network Tune Up In-Store Play Edition” a CD comp by The Album Network and on “Rockamerica Aug. 1992” by Rockamerica and “Spin This” a CD sampler that came with Spin Magazine. “Six Months is a Long Time” is on “Expand-O CD Tune Up 29” on The Album Network CD compilation and also on “CMJ Presents Certain Damage! Volume 44” that the College Music Journal put together that year. “Elevator” is on “The Album Network TuneUp In-Store Play Edition 8”, another compilation on compact disc by The Album Network.

“The Kitchen” appears on “The Best of the Fest 1993 – A Sampler of Great Music” that BMG put together on CD to promote their music.

“Left Foot Down” is on 1994’s “Par-Spectives #5 Winter ’94” released by Par-Spectives. That same year we see “Left Foot Down” on “We Sing to Open Ears” that their label High Street Records releases and “The Album Network TuneUp In-Store Play, Number 26: March 1994”. “Them That Dream” appears on “Select Sounds Vol. 2: Audio Companion to the Windham Hill Occasional” released by the parent label Windham Hill Records.

Lastly in 2020 the band gets to be in the double LP or double CD compilation “Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987” that Captured Tracks (CT-302) put together. Even though I never liked this label I thought this was a good effort for people to rediscover the bands in it. Just wish they had made a series out of this, there is a ton of great indiepop in the US that could get a new life. Anyhow, the band included the very nice “Purple Parlor” in this compilation.

Where are they now? Well Charlie Baldonado continues making music and you can check his latest, a 2018 album called “An Accidental Universe” on his own website. Jenny Homer seems to have been involved in a band called Tinsel Bunny who released a CD album called “The Circle is Green” in 2002. John Hofer, who I learn was originally from Nebraska, played on Oranger, The Freewheelers and The Mother Hips.

About Salvador I didn’t find any other music projects, but something music related as he married violinist Mary Ramsey, one of the funders of the 10,000 Maniacs, in 2001.

And that’s what I could find. I wonder if there are unreleased songs. And I also wonder if they toured extensively or just California. Actually I have many questions. Would be nice to find out more about them. They were around for more than 10 years. I’m sure they have many stories to tell.

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Listen
Downy Mildew – Burnt Bridges