~PIZZA BOX REVIEWS, january 2015 (about Burlap for Bear) "...lyrics are deeply pained at times, evocative and sparing. ‘Less is more’. These are anthemic solemn tales that deserve to be listened to." - Sandeep Sehbi ~I AM TUNED UP, november 2014 (about Scott Baldwin solo) "Scott Baldwin proved to the room why Columbus Songwriters Association members have been raving about him as of late. Raw singing. At times he reached into falsetto territory, and other times it sounded almost like he was speaking. All the time there was emphasis on emotion." ~WYANDOTTE SESSIONS, september 2014 (about Scott Baldwin solo) "He is a prolific, smart artist. The guy is off-the-charts smart and completely devoted to creating an album that is an “internally consistent work of art itself with timeless straight-through listen-ability.” ~COLUMBUS ALIVE, june 5/2014 (about Burlap for Bear live show) "Best of all was a 30-plus minute opening set from indie quartet Burlap for Bear, which incorporated [...] loping, folk-influenced tunes to proggier, art-rock fair. Oddly, the band seemed most comfortable shut off from the light, and its best songs tended to explore the physical and emotional distances that tend to grow with the passage of time." ---- In late 2012, Ian Neack made a seemingly whimsical wager with Scott Baldwin -- "get a gig and I will fly out, learn the songs, and play the first Burlap for Bear show." Ian was living in Columbus, Ohio and Scott in Gorham, Maine, and though they had recorded an album together in a different band while attending Ohio State, they had never played a show together -- and Scott had never played a show period. Ian proved the wager was not a whim but rather a promise, and the first Burlap show took place at Slainte in Portland, Maine in February 2013. This show ignited a series of whimsical actions. In Summer 2013, Scott quit work, moved to Columbus, and devoted full attention to forming Burlap for Bear in Columbus and completing an album. With multi-instrumentalists Jesse Braswell and Jack Doran joining the band, Burlap rushed into Refraze Studios in Dayton, Ohio to record 16 rough demos of incomplete songs in March 2014. After hearing the demos, Matt Baldwin, armed with a novel of critiques, warned the four that they were not ready to record. Critique sessions with Matt focused the band and changes were made to every song, some changing entirely and others being let go. However, the four were determined to record a full-length record, and the booked time at Refraze with engineer Nathan Hook remained penned on their calendars. Working fourteen hour days and sleeping in the studio, Burlap for Bear and Nathan Hook recorded a thirteen song album titled The Distillate Self in four straight days. After overcoming some nerves about the band’s vision and the mixes of the songs, Scott revisited the songs in January 2015. With a few track retakes and mixing sessions with Nate, thirteen songs were cut to ten. The Distillate Self released on February 20, 2015 with a release show at Rumba in Columbus, Ohio.