"In the vanguard of today's vibrant folk revival" - PopMatters

The Mammals are Ruth Ungar, Mike Merenda, and a cohort of compelling collaborators who form a touring quintet on the fiddle, banjo, guitar, organ, bass, and drums. Over the past 20 years they have quietly composed a canon of original songs that both reflect our culture and offer a vision of how the world might yet be. “These days we sing about what we’re for over what we’re against,” says singer/songwriter, Mike Merenda, and what they're for is "nothing short of sublime” according to (Americana UK).

A rough and tumble decade in the 00's forged The Mammals identity as "subversive acoustic traditionalists" or a "party band with a conscience." Re-emerging in 2017 from a hibernation period during-which the band's founders explored new songwriting terrain, The Mammals “don’t suffer from multiple genre syndrome, they celebrate it as if gleefully aware that the sound barriers separating old-timey music, vintage pop and contemporary folk are as permeable as cotton” (Washington Post). Their latest album, Nonet, "marshalls the defiant spirit needed to heal a damaged world" (No Depression).

In 2023 they’ll be releasing a series of singles recorded at their own Humble Abode Music, as well as issuing bonus material from 2020’s, Nonet.

You can also catch The Mammals semi-annually at The Hoot, a folk festival they curate and produce at The Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, NY.

“Hailed by many as Americana trailblazers and exuding togetherness on stage, [The Mammals] are also gently-mannered activists with well-crafted songs that successfully ask potent questions and raise issues to probe how we can improve the planet. They deliver their material persuasively and in an eloquent manner with enjoyment of their music underpinning the approach overall. The music is the motivator throughout.”