In the year since Luke Roberts recorded his debut Big Bells and Dime Songs a lot has changed. Luke now owns a guitar that his sophomore album was written on, he has moved from Brooklyn to Montana to Nashville, his childhood home, and the songs were written over a long period of time in his Brooklyn apartment (as opposed to largely on the bus down to the studio on the debut). The combination of changes made a significant and noticeable impact on the songwriting and arrangements found on The Iron Gates at Throop and Newport. The album was recorded at Beech House in Nashville by Marky Nevers (Lambchop), revised and tweaked at a few studios in Brooklyn, and finally mixed at RonnieJone$ound by Kyle Spence (Harvey Milk). The Iron Gates at Throop and Newport is a big leap forward in Luke's songwriting. While Luke's plain spoken lyrics are still present, they are now embedded in far more complex and dynamic arrangements. Where the debut was a raw country blues style recording with minimal editing and accompaniment, Iron Gates features many additional players from drums to harmonica, and notably the fiddle and mandolin of country player Billy Contraraz, and the backing vocals of Emily Sunblad.
