Mustard’s Retreat plays in Morristown on Feb. 5
David Tamulevich and Michael Hough met when they were both short-order cooks in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1974.
However, the name of their musical partnership — Mustard’s Retreat — is not a shout-out to their careers in the kitchen.
Rather, the appellate is a tribute to Nancy Mustard, who taught Tamulevich to play the guitar when she was his supervisor at the undergraduate library at the University of Michigan.
The name of Mustard’s Retreat also echoes “Bonaparte’s Retreat,” a vintage country song based on a traditional tune.
Tamulevich is the first to admit that his and Hough’s band name causes some head-scratching. But he is fine with that.
“Rock music gets weirdos. Folk music gets eccentrics,” he says. “We’re in the latter category.”
Mustard’s Retreat will play the Minstrel, the acoustic concert series sponsored by the Folk Project at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, tonight.
The performance is part of a series of concerts that Tamulevich and Hough have labelled the “Defiantly Hopeful Tour.”
Since the two men first started performing in 1974, they have released a number of CDs and play about 60 shows a year. Their concerts consist mainly of original songs, with a smattering of traditional numbers, obscure covers, and plenty of anecdotes.
Their subject matter ranges from the whimsical (“Michigan Mosquitos”) to wistful (“Gather the Family.”) Tamulevich says that a number of Unitarian churches have adopted the duo’s song “(Ours Is a) Simple Faith.”
“That means something to us,” Tamulevich says. “We think of that as a nondenominational but spiritual song.”
In addition, Tamulevich says he and Hough are likely to include their version of “The Faded Blue and Gold,” an unreleased song by singer-songwriter John Gorka.
Tamulevich cites the late poet and composer Utah Phillips as inspiration. “He spoke of the fine and noble craft being a songwriter and an entertainer,” he says. “We take that very seriously.”
“Folk music is music that has something to say,” Tamulevich continues. “It’s genuine. Our concerts are about sharing an experience, not selling an experience.”
For that reason, Tamulevich says he and Hough are pleased to return to the Minstrel, where they have performed several times before.
“The Minstrel is about the people. It’s about the community. It’s about the family that we haven’t met yet.”
Tamulevich says he knows that the audience for Mustard’s Retreat may be considered a niche. But he adds that the niche is one where he and Hough feel they belong.
“We’ve never tried to be something we’re not,” Tamulevich says. “This is our community. This is who we want to sing for, rather than try to do the smoke-and-mirrors, pop music thing.”
“The lack of radio support for folk music makes it difficult,” he acknowledges. “It’s like we’re the 90 percent being squeezed.”
At the same time, Tamulevich adds that the he sees signs of a folk revival. He points to such young artists as the singer-songwriter Joe Crookston and the trio Brother Sun as examples of young talent carrying the folk banner into the 21st Century. In addition, he and Hough have no intention to hang up their own guitars. In 2014, they released the album “A Good Place to Be” for their 40th anniversary as Mustard’s Retreat. They continue to write songs, individually or jointly.
“We’re better songwriters,” Tamulevich says. “I like to think of us as master craftsmen working at our art.”
MUSTARD’S RETREAT
WHEN: 8 tonight
WHERE: Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown.
TICKETS: $9 admission, plus a free-will offering after the performance
INFO: 973-335-9489 or
www.folkproject.org