ericana--acoustic guitars, banjos, resonator guitars, bass and maybe even a mandolin--but the execution was closer to chamber music meets jazz. The influences, among them British folk, English post-psychedelic blues rock, spare Delta blues and the sort of weird Americana the Grateful Dead sometimes hinted at, melded into an original whole whose presence was rather startling. The four members played off each other like ancient jazz bodhisattvas, and there was a conscious awareness and manipulation of the spaces between the notes, again more a jazz trait than an element common to more straightforward genres like bluegrass or country. The overall effect is easy to recall. Its like that time you got really buzzed and played guitar in the stairwell and sang, and you heard yourself sounding like something from another dimension." -- Sacramento News and Views (June 2006 Live Review); "...Druggy, dusky hued country folks who slink about in the shadows..." -- Aquarius (November 2007, regarding new split 7-inch); "...Underrated..." -- S.F. Bay Guardian (November 2007); "...Little ’r’ rock with sweetly scented underpine..." -- Byron Coley, The Wire (February 2008, regarding new split 7-inch)

Dame Satan spent two years writing and recording Beaches and Bridges.  They tracked and mixed their first album within the confines of the rickety Ghost Mansion itself, a Massive Pink Abode at the foot of Sunny Potrero Hill in San Francisco, home to Ghost Mansion Records and, at one time or another, Each Member of the Band.  Though written, at least initially, in No Small Part between Those Four Walls, the New Album Beaches and Bridges came to life in a Studio and revels in the Electricity, Rhythm, and Volume the house's Ancient Foundation might not have sustained.  Even with the Furnace on Full-Bore and Miles of Smiles and Hillocks of Barbecue inside, the Ghost Mansion is a decidedly Cold Place to write and work.  Studios have Climate Control.  Studios also have Fun Toys with which to play.  Barbecue is Unbeatable but studios even have Taco Trucks down the street if one be lucky.  In this respect, Dame Satan were.  The Quartet recorded to two-inch tape >  at Zilla Studios in Nearby San Bruno, California with Old Nigel at the Helm, Liam Nelson assisting, and Numerous Spicy Foil-Wrapped Snackers Riding Shotgun.  They supplemented these Sessions with a series of Overdub Jams at Nigel's Pad.  Andrew did Mountain Shouts, Strums and Plucks, and Synthetic Squalls.  Greg handled Classic Hits, Banjo Tickles, and Cold River Hums.  Brendan contributed Sound Pastures, World Beats, and Slip n' Slide.  Chopko added the Deep End of a Long Dark Pool, Harmonic Trade-Winds, and Porch Vibes.  Nigel played Wurlitzer on the 1st Song.  Jacob Long did Auxiliary E-bowed Electric Guitar Excursions on the 5th and 6th Songs.  Paula Frazer Sang on the 5th Song.  Nigel and Dame Satan Mixed the Mess.  Mike Wells Mastered It.  It's in Your Hands thanks to Ghost Mansion Records.