Welp hi.

Intending to make good on their tendency toward a musical gift economy, The Dick Brothers (Andrew and Michael Iafrate) will release a follow-up full-length as well as a two-song EP on November 1, 2008 as free internet downloads. The eight-song album, titled Uncle Brother, features traditional Appalachian songs as well as tunes by Dolly Parton, Will Oldham, Gillian Welch, Ryan Adams, The Folk Implosion, and Paul Simon. The Brothers’ sister Janet guest stars on the album, singing the haunting track “West Virginia Mine Disaster.”

The single, called the Straight Up EP, features a cover of Paula Abdul’s touching ballad of the same name backed with a much-too-drunk-to-go-on-side-one cover version of the R.E.M. classic “Wendell Gee.”

Both releases come your way November 1 (All Saints Day, by some reckonings), giving you plenty of time to dump them on your iPod and waddle down to your local polling place to cast your vote for the right folk.

We may be graced with an “MP3 Release Party” over the Christian holidays. Pray for it.