Emily Frantz and Andrew Marlin perform together as Mandolin Orange.If you go• What: Mandolin Orange featuring Josh Oliver• When: 9 p.m. today, Oct. 16• Where: Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St.• Admission: $10• Phone: 423-267-4644• Website: www.rhythm-brews.comDiscography• 2013: "This Side of Jordan"• 2011: "Haste Make / Hard Hearted Stranger"• 2010: "Quiet Little Room"
Even when he's on the phone, you get the impression that Andrew Marlin is just counting the seconds until he has a guitar in his hands again.
"We love to play," says Marlin, a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist who co-founded indie-folk duo Mandolin Orange with Emily Frantz.
"Even when we're at home, we're playing constantly, either sitting in with other bands or sitting at home hosting jams at the house," he adds.
Frantz and Marlin - both of whom share vocal and multi-instrumental duties - formed Mandolin Orange in 2009, when they struck chords musically and romantically.
Since then, they've forged 21st-century songs and instrumentals oozing with sometimes somber, sometimes rollicking Southern charm and verve. On their latest release, 2013's "This Side of Jordan," they'll switch between the swinging promenade of "Waltz of Whiskey" before picking up the tempo for the electric guitar- and fiddle-inflected "Turtle Dove & the Crow."
Marlin and Frantz have been likened to modern artists such as Gillian Welch and Nickel Creek, but with his back against the wall, Marlin says they're equally inspired by the work of an older generation of songsmiths including Norman Blake and brother duo luminaries such as The Monroes, The Louvins and The Stanleys.
"I think those old brother duets and their harmonies are a huge influence on what we're doing," he says.
"It's cool what you can do with just two people and two voices to push a tune along. Those duets have always been a big influence on what we do together."
This year has seen Frantz and Marlin in their native element - the road - taking their old-is-new sound to new regions, including a summer tour that helped establish new stomping grounds out West. Tonight, Oct. 16, they'll take the stage at Rhythm & Brews. The show will be their first in the Scenic City since a date at The Honest Pint more than two years ago.
Their guest will be frequent musical collaborator and friend Josh Oliver, a Knoxville-based Americana guitarist and singer/songwriter. He'll join Mandolin Orange onstage, but Marlin suggests showing up early to see his opening set.
"He [Oliver] has this amazing understanding of how to play," Marlin says.
"It's not something you can put your finger or study; it's just in him. I think people who come out to see Josh will see and be awed by how naturally it comes to him."
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.