This past winter, my old college friend Terry reached out to me about a potential collaboration. What started off as vague inquiry into what might happen when our two brains pointed their attention on Terry’s hand-built instruments—some of them traditional (guitar, ukulele) and others overwhelmingly unique (see below)—quickly proved to be fertile ground for something distinct and open-ended and (at least for us) really damn exciting. Which is how we became Dunnage.

To state it formally:

Dunnage is the experimental sound project of artist/educator Terry James Conrad and writer/producer Douglas W. Milliken. Combining a mutual interest in collage, salvaged materials, and the fissures between the natural and industrial worlds, Conrad and Milliken use unique hand-built instruments, electronic interventions, found objects, and field recordings to create sonic spaces that are at once familiar and disarming.

This week sees the release of our first album, Hypnogogia/Hypnopompia, released by micro-press-and-label Aventures LTD. As a physical good, the album exists as a limited-run cassette hand-packaged with Terry’s original artwork. For those who are analog-incapable or format-agnostic, the record is also available on Spotify and iTunes, with many other streaming services and Bandcamp due to carry it in the coming days.

Also this week is the opening of our show Dunnage :: Scrimshaw. Again, to state it formally:

Salt Pond Studio in Friendship, Maine, presents Dunnage :: Scrimshaw – sculpture, text, print media, and sound by author and musician Douglas W. Milliken (Saco, Maine) and artist, educator, and musician Terry James Conrad (Round Lake, New York). Embracing limitations with an emphasis on slowness as a virtue, the one-week show opens on August 1^st with a combined literary/musical performance by Milliken and Conrad and closes August 8^th with a reading by Milliken from his most recent book, Any Less You, and a talk on ocean microbiology by Conrad. Books, recordings, musical instruments (both traditional and unique), and limited-edition prints will be on view and available for purchase.

For those of you in the mid-coast area, we’d be delighted to see you at either or both events. The opening event is 3-7 PM on Saturday, August 1^st, with our performance at 5 PM. The closing event is from 3-5 PM on Saturday, August 8^th. Salt Pond Studio is open 12-5 PM, Thursday through Sunday and is located at 522 Cushing Rd, Friendship, ME 04547.For a sample of the more readerly aspect of our performance, consider “Parachute,” a vignette included in a recent issue of Invisible Cities.

Thank you for reading/listening/paying attention. I hope y’all are hanging in there. Perhaps I’ll see you soon.