Prologue
The nine-track debut, given away as a free download.
The Milk Carton Kids, 2011
Prologue was released free as a zip of MP3s with PDF art and liner notes, with CDs sold at shows and a limited vinyl run. Joe Henry wrote an essay to accompany it, comparing discovering the band to discovering the Jayhawks. The San Francisco Chronicle called it bittersweet and beautiful, and "There by Your Side" was an NPR Song of the Day. It led to a Newport Folk Festival slot about two years later. The studio, producer and recording dates are not named in any source we read. Ryan told Montecito Journal, per a search summary, that a fan's social post about "Michigan" prompted the 10th anniversary box set.
Track listing
More from The Milk Carton Kids
Kenneth Pattengale, Joey Ryan - Retrospect (2011), The Ash & Clay (2013), Monterey (2015), All The Things That I Did And All The Things That I Didn't Do (2018), I Only See The Moon (2023), Lost Cause Lover Fool (2026)
Sources
- The Milk Carton Kids, Wikipedia
- Milk Carton Kids, Prologue: foreword a decade on, American Songwriter