More than 8 years ago, Ben Cooper AKA Radical Face, started crafting the story of a fictitious, and sometimes otherworldly, 19th century family. In 2011, he brought those characters to life in The Family Tree: The Roots, which was the first installment of a three-part, stand-alone album series based around the Family Tree he created. He recorded alone in the shed behind his moms house in Jacksonville, Florida.

Radical Face will release the second installment to the series, The Family Tree: The Branches on October 22 via Nettwerk Records. Certain instrumentations and melodies that represent a “family member” will reappear in the second album as a continuation of the story or descendent. Just as The Family Tree: The Roots was limited to instruments that would have been accessible during that era of the story, The Family Tree: The Branches will progress in production by including instruments that would have become available in the next era of the story set from 1860-1910.

“I like storytelling, and wanted that to be the focus. I looked up genealogy charts and studied some American history for a frame of reference, then pulled from personal experiences and put it all together.”

Such concepts and stories come naturally to Ben, whom before turning to music wrote fiction. He switched to music after a hard drive crash where he lost his two nearly completed novels.