Pairdown is David Leicht and Raymond Morin, a musical duo from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They’ve shared stages with Jack Rose, Steve Gunn, Nathan Salsburg, Joan Shelley, Ryley Walker, Death Vessel, Micah Blue Smaldone, James Elkington, Douglas McCombs, Peter Walker, Glenn Jones, Mountain Man, Freakwater, Marisa Anderson, John Mueller, Molly Tuttle, Circuit Des Yeux, Daniel Bachman, Chris Forsyth, New Bums and many others. Their LP, “The Gruesome Two” is available on vinyl from Bandcamp and also streaming everywhere.

2025 Dates:

Feb 27 - Spirit (w/ Giant Day, The Garment District)

2024 Dates:

Feb 15 - Rising Silo Brewery, Blacksburg (w/ Mike Gangloff, Solar Hex)

Feb 16 - Lily’s Snack Bar, Boone (w/ Devon Flaherty & Grayson McGuire, Yellow Sky Way)

Feb 17 - Leveller Brewing, Weaverville/Asheville

Jul 16 - AMW, Pittsburgh (w/ Nathan Bowles Trio)

Aug 2 - AMW, Pittsburgh (w/ Joseph Allred, Ernie Francestine)

Sep 8 - AMW, Pittsburgh (w/ Grant/Flaherty/McGuire, Alex Aks)

Oct 8 - AMW, Pittsburgh (w/ Universal Light)

Dec 9 - Bottlerocket Social Hall (w/ BASIC)

Quotes:

“Pairdown guides two acoustic guitars through interpretations of tunes from a sprawling folk catalog, with West African and Middle Eastern influences tugging gently against the bedrock of Appalachian reverence and reference. More playful than John Fahey, less technique-driven than Leo Kottke, Pairdown canters through comfortable tunes with assured grace.” - Grayson Currin

"Judging by the black sleeve, weird pseudo-Olde English font, the name Pairdown, and song titles like 'Soon You Will Flourish as a Caterer,' I was hunkering down for some dank basement-brewed caustic backwoods sludge. Imagine my surprise to discover that this is actually very gentle open-tuned acoustic folk that owes way more to Leo Kottke than Eyehategod” - Dusted Magazine

“Pairdown is a quiet, but constant presence in Pittsburgh’s musical landscape. For over 10 years, the duo of David Leicht and Raymond Morin have been dishing out harmonically rich and lyrically potent music, embracing intelligent and practical dissonance, all while sounding out of time.” - David Bernabo

“Stylistically, Pairdown sidesteps the post-Fahey/American Primitive raga-isms common in fingerstyle guitar these days, instead drawing on sources both within the six-string tradition (Kottke, Grossman, Renbourn, Dave Evans) and well beyond it (Ellington, Satie), folding those influences into a rich set of baroque miniatures and distinctive compositions that stand shoulder-to-shoulder with anyone working in the field today.” - Deep Water Acres

“Not enough people are talking about Pairdown and their recent return to the vinyl fray with The Gruesome Two LP. There are hints of everything from the ancient rags of Joplin (Scott, not Janis), the blazing acoustic Pentangling duels of Bert & John, to casual nods in the direction of murmering college radio mumblecore and maybe a bit of Slinty deconstruction. What if you just get so POST that you're way ahead of yourself and everybody else and it's like deja vu all over again? I suspect only Pairdown really know for sure.” - Autonomous Battleship Collective