Quality Americana

You’re drawn in immediately when you hear the opening of “Winsome Lose Some Game.” Irene Greene and Mason Summit have beautiful harmonies that just swirl in your mind endlessly.

California

Greene was raised in Pennsylvania, and met Summit while at college in Los Angeles. The two were music majors at the University of Southern California.

“Mason and I met in a songwriting class actually,” Greene said. “We had a prompt where we had to write with other students in the class. I thought Mason and I would be a great fit, so I contacted him over Facebook which seems very quaint now.”

The Prickly Pair dates back to 2021, where they started booking and recording as a duo. 

“Some of the songs date back to our school days,” Summit said about their self-titled album. “Including the first song that we ever wrote, which was during that songwriting session that Irene set up.”

Now based in Nashville, they’ve connected to family and likeminded musicians. They’ve found homegrown support amongst the Americana fans.

“There’s a surprising diversity in the music scene,” Summit said. “There are a lot more styles than just the top 40 pop country.”

Winsome Lose Some Game

The new single shows their strength in the songwriting craft. It’s a unique approach with the chord structure, yet keeps a classic feel. The harmonies really take it to another level.  

“We just wanted to write a love song that was a little bit more realistic,” Greene said. “In the song we talk about ‘rose colored glasses,’ like less fantasy love, more real love.” 

“It’s also very tricky to write a sweet love song that’s not trite,” Summit said, “or cliche. So that’s something that we were trying to be very conscious of.”

Now the pair are planning their wedding and putting on local performances after releasing the album. 

“We’re college sweethearts,” Summit said.

Home Recording

They duo are able to record from their home studio, which keeps them productive. They’ve also been recently working on a contribution to a film score.

Jeff Plankenhorn is featured on the single with lap steel guitar. Jim Doyle plays drums and Jeff Turmes plays upright bass on the album.

“We try to do as much as we can at our home studio, and I play most of the instruments,” Summit said. “We’ve used the same friend for mixing for a long time, Oliver Roman. Our mastering is by Bobbi Giel at Welcome to 1979 here in Nashville. We’re very into the home recording scene, and we have a tiny, but mighty room with a lot of gear.”

Support the Artist

More information about the Prickly Pair can be found here.

Photo by Spencer Shap.

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