About this project

Hi Everyone,

We are the Hobart Brother featuring Lil' Sis Hobart.  You might know us better as Jon Dee Graham, Freedy Johnston and Susan Cowsill.  During last year's SXSW Conference, we found themselves huddled together writing a couple of songs reflecting on our early days washing dishes for a living, which we all had done early in our careers (joining the ranks of such former dish-washing rock legends as Alex Chilton). The band name refers to the commercial dishwasher known to all aspiring songwriters.  None of us want to have to go back to washing dishes to put this record out, but we gotta tell ya, it's touch and go. 

We've recorded a CD called At Least We Have Each Other that we are really quite proud of, and we want to get it out to our longtime fans and the new fans we meet along the way.  This takes money. We need to pay for mastering, production, promotion, publicity, publicity materials, artwork and much more.  At a minimum we need $10,000. This isn't near enough, but it would be an amazing start.  The record business ain't what it used to be.  If we can raise this money we can get the music produced and out to the folks who want to listen to it.  It's that simple. 

While getting to know one another and writing together, we quickly realized that the Hobart Brothers was a good outlet to write songs about things we otherwise might not. From the initial summit came a collection of songs of joy and heartbreak that range from the sublime to the silly. Susan's vocals, described by Rolling Stone as “a supple survivor’s alto,” blend beautifully with the roughhewn quality of Jon Dee's voice and Freedy’s sad tenor.   

It's a simple recording, mostly recorded in May 2010 at Top Hat Studios in Austin.  It was cut in the lounge and kitchen area of the studio.  The band was already rehearsing there, so engineer John Harvey set up the mikes around them and started recording. The finished album provides a rare glimpse at what three very different veteran songwriters and singers might come up with when they think no one else is listening.  While the songs were recorded with one or two takes, there is a resonant honest and completeness to them.  The CD is scheduled for release later in 2011....but only with the help from our friends and fans.....and soon to be growing Hobart family!  Please join us and become a Hobart.  

We have tried to come up with some fun and interesting rewards...things that not only would our fans enjoy but that we would enjoy sharing with our bigger Hobart family.