Ian McGuiness, Contributor of Legs For Days

Side Saddle began as a solo project by Ian McGuinness in the Spring of 2013. Ian recruited longtime friend TJ Dumser to engineer, produce and play guitar on some folk songs he had written. That summer, the two went into the mountains, drank beer and recorded songs. On March 25th, 2014 they released their first nugget of music called "The Postcard - EP" 

 The EP was well received by some wonderful indie blogs including American Songwriter, The Wild Honey Pie and Indie-Music.Shortly thereafter, the two began working on a full length record. They brought in friend and guitarist Ryan Sniffen. Ryan had previously played with Ian and TJ in separate groups.

Together, the boys drove out to West Chester, PA to The Farm Studio and began recording their first LP. Throughout the process, the trio acquired Eric Tait Jr. on keys & trumpet and Brendan Coughlan on bass. Increasing their numbers to five. Side Saddle released "The Astorian" with their new lineup in Sept. 2014.

Between Christmas and New Years ('14-'15), the gang plus new drummer, Miles Nasta retreated back to The Farm Studio and began recording twelve songs. Half of those twelve songs became "Young Professional", which Ian called "the story of love lost and love found in the concrete jungle of New York City". The record was the bands first foyer into a larger sound incorporating two drummers, pedal-steel guitars and a string quartet. The now six-piece band released "Young Professional" in July of 2015 to warm reviews. Absolute Punk featured the record in their Best of Bandcampseries!

Currently, the band is working on their second full length album, bringing on yet another old comrade, Rich Bozek. On this record, the band experiments with the darker & heavier side, both sonically and lyrically. The album is expected to be released October 2016.

Band website: http://www.sidesaddlemusic.com/

SIDE SADDLE

• Ian McGuinness
• TJ Dumser
• Ryan Sniffen
• Eric Tait
• Brendan Coughlin
• Rich Bozek