It begins with a sunset “In The Corner Where It All Began” and ends with a deep night ballad in “Craters Of the Moon”. Milton Mapes' latest release, The Blacklight Trap (2005 on Undertow), is not a “concept album”. However, it is the kind of thing that makes most sense when you sit down and immerse yourself in it. This one is a little darker than their two previous releases. Whereas The State Line and Westernaire had a certain regional soundtrack quality, The Blacklight Trap is more of a global landscape. In Neil Young terms, its mood is more like On The Beach. It’s an intense record for heavy times, but not without a silver lining. The characters in these songs all seem to be lost, wounded, or trapped; their salvation lying somewhere out of reach. If not in our world “The Blacklight Trap”, then somewhere beyond it.
Like the characters on the record, the band, too, finds itself in a sort of categorical limbo. While maintaining itself as a rock band by definition, Milton Mapes’ sound often straddles the bounds of atmospheric indie-rock and timeless, dusty Americana.
Milton Mapes (from Austin, Texas) formed in 1999, naming the band after singer/guitarist Greg Vanderpool's grandfather. Vanderpool and bandmate Roberto Sánchez, both veterans of Dallas’ Deep Ellum music scene, subsequently spent a year in Nashville compiling songs that would make up the group's debut release The State Line (2001). The 7-song CD was well-received by regional press and radio, drawing comparisons to Neil Young (Harvest) and Bruce Springsteen (Nebraska).
Milton Mapes eventually evolved into a complete band (now with the addition of Britton Beisenherz, Chris Dye, and Jim Fredley), honing in closer on an atmospheric revival of Young's Crazy Horse or Bob Dylan's electric conversion. The group released Westernaire (Aspyr Media) in 2003, reflecting this migration with a heavy dose of layered guitars and textures. Sounding much less "country" than the title might suggest, Westernaire explores pastoral themes of "the unknown", love, and alcohol without being cliché in its delivery--oftentimes allowing the quiet moments of a song to shine as brightly as the loud ones in cinematic fashion.
Appearing both as a duo and with a full band, Milton Mapes continues to pioneer toward new audiences with a personal and diverse set of live performances. In addition to contributions for numerous compilation CDs, the group has shared stages with an assortment of its respected Texas contemporaries and touring acts such as Chris Whitley, Ron Sexsmith, Willie Nelson, Magnolia Electric Co., and The Handsome Family.
