De-plumed

de-plumed (full title de-plumed: laid bare, exposed, featherless) is the 13th studio release, and 12th full-length studio album, by Christian alternative rock band the Choir, released in 2010. It was the band's first "unplugged" recording, featuring reinterpretations of songs from prior albums. On July 24, 2010, the Choir performed a private acoustic concert at saxophone and Lyricon player Dan Michaels' home outside Nashville, Tennessee, for a limited group of fans who had pre-ordered the album as part of the band's top-tier "Package A." Based on the highly positive response to this stripped-down version of the band, lead singer and guitarist Derri Daugherty and drummer and lyricist Steve Hindalong decided to tour in support of Burning Like the Midnight Sun as an acoustic duo. "Our following is very devoted," Hindalong said, "so we figured most of them would already have Midnight Sun. Our initial idea was to offer a special new recording exclusively for those audiences, which would be something we could also create relatively quickly. I had recently seen one of our favorite bands, the Church, on a tour where they performed one song from each of their albums in reverse chronological order. It made for a very entertaining show. So that's where we got the idea to reinterpret a song from each of our 12 releases, from 1985 to the present." The band went into Daugherty’s Sled Dog Studios in Franklin, Tennessee to record the new album, which was the Choir's first attempt at an "unplugged" studio recording. "It is definitely a production challenge to record without bass guitar, ambient electrics or keys," Hindalong said. "We used a bit of glockenspiel for counter-melody." The band also brought in collaborators to assist on the project, including Choir guitarist Marc Byrd's wife, Christy Glass Byrd, to sing harmonies, and Matt Slocum from Sixpence None the Richer to play cello, the latter of which Hindalong claimed was "the best decision we made." Ironically, Hindalong's favorite track on the album was the least adorned: “Love Your Mind,” which featured simply Daugherty and his Gibson J-45 guitar.