String Builder header
Mortar 10th Anniversary Mortar images
Mortar album In celebration of ten years since its initial release on cassette tape format in 1999, String Builder's debut album, Mortar, is now available as a digital download. Officially reissued December 1st, 2009, Mortar is subsequently making its way into various online shops.

Current shops and audio formats:
- iTunes Store (AAC)
- Amazon (MP3)
- Rhapsody (MP3, streaming)

BONUS: Click the image at left to instantly download a free PDF booklet with complete Mortar lyrics and credits.
Mortar booklet
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Biography: In the late 1990s brothers Alec and Joel Thibodeau formed String Builder, honing their songwriting partnership with an acoustic based sound reminiscent of earlier American musical traditions. After experimenting on their own 4-track machines, the brothers met Pete Donnelly, who had built an analog recording studio at his apartment in Providence, Rhode Island. During 1998 and 1999 Pete engineered several sessions with String Builder, recording over a dozen songs on reel-to-reel tape. Hold your cursor here to see more studio images.

The resulting compilation is String Builder's debut album, Mortar, which the band self-released as 50 cassette tapes in 1999 on the eve of its two-month USA tour via Greyhound buses. Most songs on Mortar have spare arrangements, with just vocals and acoustic guitars. A few tracks, including "Lakeview" (simultaneously released as a single on Grimsey Records), feature the expanded instrumentation of Alec and Joel's electric guitars, electric bass, harmonica, lap steel and fiddle -- plus Pete's contributions on air organ, drums and percussion.

In 2000 String Builder issued a CD version of Mortar's cassette through the Japanese label Contact Records. During the following two years the band welcomed more musicians into its line-up, releasing additional singles and a self-titled album. Since then Joel has formed Death Vessel, making continued use of his distinct singing style, while Alec has started Ink Ape and the Black Acoustic music series. The brothers still perform together on rare occasions, most recently in northern Maine at their grandmother's 90th birthday party.