The Milk Carton Kids

The Milk Carton Kids are a Grammy Award-nominated neo-traditional folk duo from Los Angeles, California. Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan formed the group in early 2011, shelving their solo careers in favor of a collaborative project that focused on harmonized vocals, entwined acoustic guitars, and rootsy songwriting. They released their first two albums -- the live Retrospect and studio LP Prologue -- in 2011, at which time they also began a pattern of persistent touring. Known on the road for their adversarial, Smothers Brothers -evoking comedic banter as well as their virtuosic guitar skills (Pattengale's intricate picking and Ryan's airtight rhythm guitar), they added a backing band to the project for the first time in 2018 with their fourth studio album, All the Things That I Did and All the Things That I Didn't Do. The duo pared things back in 2019 for the intimate The Only Ones.