Lose Me in the Sand, the second location-based album by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mark Growden, is crafted around the banjo, chosen by Growden for its timbre and its place in the history of American folk music. It is a tribute to roughshod beginnings of American music, the spirit of resilience and fortitude that music represents, and to Growden’s own rural mountain roots in Pinetown, a small, depression-stricken Northern California logging town. Rehearsed and recorded in Tucson, AZ, the new album follows on the heels of his accordion-driven Americana-noir masterpiece Saint Judas (2010) recorded in Oakland. The album is rooted in Tucson’s country music scene, with guitarist Clay Koweek, fiddler Tim O’Connor, dobro player Connor Gallaher, bassist Ian Stapp, harmonica player Tom Wallbank and guest percussionist Andrew Collberg contributing their homegrown sensibilities. With Growden as music director, the arrangements grew from guided improvisations. Each musician crafted riffs to add nuance and depth to the interpretations of Growden originals and iconoclastic covers of classics by Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin and Francis Scott Key. Press Quotes: “There’s not a song on here that doesn’t have some kind of down-home goodness to offer. “ - humana, KFJC 89.7 FM "heartbreaking, crazy, and wickedly smart" - Flavorpill LA “Lose Me in the Sand, my friends, is NOT a reprise of Saint Judas at all but rather the last gasp of perforated humanity well before the Stygian gates open wide. There are pains and there are pleasures, but mostly there's Mark Growden's distinctive troubadoric artistry in a reflective/warning oracle of caution, regret, and memory.” - Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange “...on Lose Me, Growden delves into the history of American song, going full circle, connecting the events and emotions of what was to what is and likely will be.” SFWeekly “...combines oddments of philosophy, romance, humor, and reminiscence, covering familiar tunes in startlingly unfamiliar ways...” - SF Bay Guardian “...Mark offers up a spirited, eclectic reinterpretation of American traditionalism.” - Laughing Squid “...a tribute to both his personal roots in the rural mountain ranges and to the spirit of those that mined music roots while carving out an American folk tradition.” - The Alternate Root “The album occupies a valley where old and new meet, whether in retooled interpretations of a songbook with long and tangled roots (“Lovin’ Emma,” “John Hardy,” “Shady Grove”), ruminations on a recent hit-parade past (“I’m on Fire”), a careful collision of the two (“Star Spangled Benz”), or original reflections (“Settle in a Little While,” “Bones,” “Killing Time,” “Takin’ My Time”) dressed in timeless threads, all delivered in a timbre that’s equal parts devilish, lustful, boastful and true.” - The Entertainer