"I'm worried about how the soul is doing, mine and other peoples," acknowledges Ethan. "I'm worried about what the world is doing to the soul, how it's giving the soul a hard time. And I'm trying to give the soul a little comfort, a pat on the back, a reason to laugh at itself, or even just a clearer picture--a more compassionate explanation--of why, no matter how hard it tries, it's never going to win."

"We're here to represent the half-empties of the world," declares Ethan Lipton of his band, now entering its fifth year as a quartet. "We know there's some good news buried in all the bad, and we're trying to dig it out and get it to the people who need it—on finger sandwiches of delight, if possible."