Up North Lowdown, Ep. 34: Guitars in the barn

By Ed Ronco,

Published November 25, 2023 at 6:00 AM EST

Classical guitarists Matthew McAllister (left) and Matthew Cochran pose inside the Cathedral Barn and Historic Barns Park in Traverse City. They're using the space to record their new album, "Pale Blue Dot." (Photo: Ed Ronco/IPR News) — Classical guitarists Matthew McAllister (left) and Matthew Cochran pose inside the Cathedral Barn and Historic Barns Park in Traverse City. They're using the space to record their new album, "Pale Blue Dot." *(Photo: Ed Ronco/IPR News)*

A break from the news this week as we spend some time with classical guitarists Matthew Cochran and Matthew McAllister.

This week was a shorter one for us in the IPR newsroom, so we decided to do a slightly different episode of the Up North Lowdown.

We're handing this one over to Classical IPR's Kate Botello, who recently caught up with Cochran and McAllister as they recorded their new album, "Pale Blue Dot," inside the soaring Cathedral Barn at Historic Barns Park.

The album, still in progress, includes a new composition by Cochran celebrating the famous work of famed astronomer Carl Sagan, and a guitar arrangement of Hans Zimmer's suite from the 2014 film "Interstellar."

Listen for a great conversation and some beautiful music.

Oh, and check out the behind-the-scenes series these guys are doing for their album:

We'll be back next week with stories from the IPR newsroom, Michigan headlines and more.

Thanks for listening!