From 2011 to 2018, I was half of an experimental electric orchestral scrape rock duo called TEACH ME EQUALS with Greg Bortnichak (Sparta Philharmonic), at times featuring Vern Rumsey on bass (Redrumsey, Long Hind Legs, Unwound, Big Henry) and Alex Bortnichak (Sparta Philharmonic) on drums.
Prior to being known as Teach Me Equals, we were Bard and Mustache, formed in 2011 when Greg Bortnichak offered to add cello to recordings in process for my band at the time, the Equines. We'd met the summer before in a neighborhood pub in FL, when I'd booked his Philadelphia-based project, Sparta Philharmonic, for a show on their album release tour. We quickly became inseparable, and this new pastoral acoustic folk duo took over our full artistic attention. Bard and Mustache released several EP's, cd's mostly burnt at home and packaged by hand.
We recorded our first album to tape over a year in a living room. We renamed ourselves and decided to give touring a go. Moving on to the road was the only option. And so we did.
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In 2018, after another sweeping tour of the US from west to east, we parted ways.
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Teach Me Equals released three records and were lucky to play all over the country, meeting thousands of other musicians and artmakers throughout the DIY scenes in almost every state, living on the road for long stretches of several years between seasonal jobs.
Prior to being known as Teach Me Equals, we were Bard and Mustache, formed in 2011 when Greg Bortnichak offered to add cello to recordings in process for my band at the time, the Equines. We'd met the summer before in a neighborhood pub in FL, when I'd booked his Philadelphia-based project, Sparta Philharmonic, for a show on their album release tour. We quickly became inseparable, and this new pastoral acoustic folk duo took over our full artistic attention. Bard and Mustache released several EP's, cd's mostly burnt at home and packaged by hand.
We recorded our first album to tape over a year in a living room. We renamed ourselves and decided to give touring a go. Moving on to the road was the only option. And so we did.
---
In 2018, after another sweeping tour of the US from west to east, we parted ways.
---
Teach Me Equals released three records and were lucky to play all over the country, meeting thousands of other musicians and artmakers throughout the DIY scenes in almost every state, living on the road for long stretches of several years between seasonal jobs.
It was a wild and beautiful ride.
-erne
-erne
