Exclusive EP premiere of ‘Ghost Hunter’ by Chicago quartet Red Scarves, out October 14th.

Red Scarves began with a class on Bob Dylan at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, IL a decade ago when the professor suggested for two of the classmates to play music together. Now in the big city with a solidified lineup consisting of Braden Poole (vocals, guitar), Ayethaw Tun (vocals, guitar, bass), Ryan Donlin (vocals, bass, guitar, keys), and Robby Kuntz (drums, percussion, keys), the band is truly a team effort with each member contributing to songwriting.

Red Scarves writes music that is at the intersection of their music theory studies in undergrad and the 60s/70s pop-rock that first got them together in the first place. With a foot in folk and another in indie-pop, the band is set to release a new EP and LP in 2022 and 2023, both recorded on tape with Dave Vettraino during the pandemic.

“We recorded ‘Ghost Hunter’ from summer 2021 to winter 2022, and it features songwriting and singing from each of our members. This is a diverse release featuring soaring pedal steel and four-part harmonies on the closer ‘Robin,’ dreamy mellotron and slide guitar in the ballad ‘Just Like a Man,’ and guitar freak-out moments in ‘DKHTBA.’ Tying the EP together is the band recording each song live as a four-piece on 16-track tape at Palisade Recordings in Chicago by local studio wiz, Dave Vettraino. The majority of the songs were born out of living in that space of unease and uncertainty back in 2020, with songs dealing with loneliness, memories of childhood, and inspiration itself. The term “ghost hunter” comes from the first song, written by our bassist/guitarist, Ryan Donlin. He describes the feeling of having big ideas form in our heads for the next big song/project/solution to a problem/etc. But when we sat down with an instrument and a pen in hand, those ideas begin to escape him and the harder he tries to capture that incredible feeling of that idea, the further it slips away. This EP features the rare moments those ideas are captured and realized in full.”