Lincoln and the Lost Prayers are a Louisville, Kentucky based duo ( and a sometime-trio) playing folk/country/rock. Fans of country and of The Red House Painters will both find something to like in the band. Members include Chris Lincoln, Matt Brown and sometimes Thommy Browne. Guitarist, slide guitarist and vocalist Matt Brown says the band's songs start in a simple place.

"The songs all start very basic, acoustic guitar, maybe one electric, and then we add things as we hear them," says Browne. "I really think these songs dictate their own instrumentation in a way."

The band formed, as so often is the case, out of the wreckage of another band, Carolina. That band was more than a little different from the stripped down sound of Lincoln and the Lost Prayers.

"Most of our songs were these lush, effects-drenched epics." says Brown. "Without going to far into it, the band took a back seat in the other members' lives because of family and career obligations and what not. Life happened. It got to the point that Chris and I were the only ones showing up for practice, and we started to think we were having more fun that way."

"These spare, lonely, songs started coming out, with more traditional song structure. We both felt like the songs needed to be heard by someone other than Chris's cat so we buckled down and funded our own record."

That record, Blood County, is now available.

On the CD, and live, Brown plays a variety of guitars. Some are classics, some are held together by duct tape. Why he uses each one varies. One guitar he likes is a 1977 Gibson Les Paul Pro (a black guitar with P-90 pickups).

"This was my first 'real' guitar. It's been with me for a long time and its seen a lot of the world. It has a beautiful chime-y tone but it can scream too. I do most of my slide playing on this guitar, so it generally stays in some form of an open G tuning," says Brown.

He also has a "year unknown" Epiphone Dot, purchased on eBay. The tobacco-burst guitar has no pickguard, and was purchased with the intention of upgrading to a 335 when cash became available. But the guitar has stood its ground and remained in the mix. A lot of folks will tell you these guitars are inexpensive but still sound great.

"I like it though, has a nice mellow tone. I also like the fact that it was cheap, its definitely seen its fair share of abuse," says Brown. "The neck pickup is duct-taped in. I haven't gotten it fixed because it has a cool out-of-phase sound when the pickups are in the middle position. Almost has a natural vibrato."

The newest guitar Brown has is a 2003 Martin HD-28. The HD-28 is the newer version of the D-28 and features rosewood sides and back and a solid spruce top.

"I love it so far. Nice brassy tone with deep bass response. It has a built-in Fishman pickup," says Brown. "If Hank played it, it's good enough for me. Always wanted a Martin, now I'm in debt."

The last guitar the band uses is a 1970s era Electra. Brown is not sure of the model but he bought it has a back up to his Les Paul.

"Chris has been playing it lately, it's pretty metal." says Brown.

As far as guitars he doesn't own, Brown does have his dreams.

"I've always wanted a 1961 Gibson Barney Kessel, they're beautiful guitars, big hollowbody with sharp tipped double cut-aways," says Brown. "I'd have to sell a kidney or something to get one though. I'd also like a Gibson Firebird non reverse, with P-90s. Or a Gibson J45 acoustic, I could go on all night."

When it comes to recording Brown uses all the same guitars but with a different amp set up.

"The amp set up was different. I recorded a lot of the electrics through a little Danelectro that Troy had at the studio. It was a solid-state amp with a 10 or 12-inch speaker. It was pretty much falling apart and had a terrible hum, but we loved the way it sounded. It was a charming amp," says Brown. "We also recorded a bunch of the guitars direct. We recorded the main tracks live. We wanted the record to sound like it was the two of us playing together in a room, so thats what we did. The amplification had to be pretty quiet."

Live the band bring their guitars but they also have other gear that differs from the studio set up.

"I bring a 70s Traynor amp. It's called a YRM 1SC Master Reverb. It's basically a Fender Super Reverb, 4 10" speakers, reverb, vibrato. It's a bit heavier duty and sounds a bit darker than the super reverb. I can get pretty much any sound i need out of it, great tube vibrato. Traynor made amazing amps in the 70's, snatch one up if you ever get the chance," says Brown. "I also have a pedal board that usually includes a Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, an Electro Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb, a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, a 70's Boss Super Overdrive, and a Boss Tuner. The Holy Grail and the Boss overdrive are essential to my live sound. I kick the level knob up a notch on the Memory man to make my signal a little hotter."

When asked what makes a good guitar for him Brown doesn't immediately spit out a list of brand names.

"It's funny, I'm not really hung up on brand, its all in how they play and how they sound. I've had lots of cheap guitars that played amazingly. Chris's main guitar is a Johnson acoustic that he bought for 50 bucks. Its great. I've played $5000 guitars that play like two-by-fours." says Brown. "The only thing I try to stay away from is Les Pauls made after 89. I don't like the necks on newer ones at all. I guess I just look for playability, sound and the ability to come up with several tones. I'm a klutz, so I like sturdy guitars."

As for what the future holds Brown says that they are working on integrating the newly added drummer, Browne, into the mix, finding a more traditional live presentation for their new songs and looking for a bass player. The songs for the follow-up to Blood County are written and the band plans to play as much as is possible in Louisville and the Midwest over the coming months.