Watchhouse

Mandolin Orange to Watchhouse

Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz formed the duo in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 2009 as Mandolin Orange (MusicBrainz gives 2019 as the begin date, probably the rename era). Albums followed: Quiet Little Room (April 10, 2010), Haste Make / Hard Hearted Stranger (2011), This Side of Jordan (August 2013, their first on Yep Roc, which signed them that year), Such Jubilee (May 5, 2015), Blindfaller (September 30, 2016) and Tides of a Teardrop (February 1, 2019), which reached 164 on the Billboard 200 and number 2 on Folk. They appeared on CBS This Morning Saturday Sessions on December 7, 2019. Marlin made the instrumental albums Buried in a Cape (2018) and, during the pandemic, Witching Hour and Fable and Fire without Frantz.

In April 2021 they announced the new name; Marlin said Mandolin Orange was born out of his 21-year-old mind, and Frantz called it the next step. Marlin has an instrumental piece, "The Watchhouse", tied to the same place. The self-titled album (August 13, 2021, Tiptoe Tiger) was recorded before the decision; Marlin said it is basically a live record, and "Coming Down from Green Mountain" was a first take at a lake house. They played Newport Folk in July 2021, released ACL Live at the Moody Theater on January 12, 2024 and Rituals on May 30, 2025, produced by Marlin and Ryan Gustafson, which Rolling Stone ranked 21st among the year's best country and Americana albums.

Setlist.fm lists 196 setlists, with Ryman Auditorium in Nashville the most visited venue (five), and festivals including Austin City Limits, SXSW, Telluride, Newport, MerleFest and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Dates in 2026 included the Gorge Amphitheatre on September 5 and Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on October 23.