Tag: album premiere

STREAM: Ira Wolf, ‘Rock Bottom’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Ira Wolf
Hometown: Montana
Album: Rock Bottom
Release Date: October 13, 2023
Label: Nettwerk Music Group

In Their Words: “When I began writing Rock Bottom, over a year had passed since the onset of the pandemic. Every piece of my life had been affected. It felt like I had lost everything that once gave my existence meaning: My career as a touring musician, my nomadic way of life, my passion, my sense of community, and finally, my person. I was alone for the first time in almost five years after calling off my wedding and leaving an unhealthy relationship that had wreaked havoc on my mental health. As I sat by myself in the van amidst the red rocks of the Utah desert, I couldn’t fathom how things could deteriorate further from where they stood, amidst the depths of sorrow that paradoxically offered some solace. ‘If this is rock bottom, at least I’m on solid ground,’ I mused, finding a semblance of stability in the sentiment. I knew healing would take time, and writing and recording these songs helped me process an immense amount of grief in the way I needed – slowly, viscerally. It helped me feel everything, say everything, forgive everything, and in doing so it helped me find a way back to myself.” – Ira Wolf

Photo Credit: Kendall Rock

STREAM: Victoria Bailey, ‘A Cowgirl Rides On’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Victoria Bailey
Hometown: Orange County, California
Album: A Cowgirl Rides On
Release Date: October 6, 2023
Label: Rock Ridge Music

In Their Words: “A Cowgirl Rides On is my most vulnerable and honest piece to date. I am so proud of this record and of everyone who brought it to life. It started with a few heartbreak songs and a few gospel songs and it turned into an intertwined piece of those two things exactly: An unexpected breakup and what I grasped onto to get me through, my faith and the Gospel. I wanted this record to feel as raw as the songs felt to write, so we went into the studio and recorded live with a string band, all in one room together, and everyone poured a lot of love into each recording. You can hear it so clearly listening to the record. It’s perfect-imperfections, and just some good ol’ classic country storytelling. I can‘t even envision this project coming to life without my good friend and producer of the record, Brian Whelan (also a co-writer on a few of the tracks). I hope this record takes listeners to a good–feeling place – some sort of western, bluegrass dream – and brings them comfort even in the slightest way. Enjoy.” – Victoria Bailey

Photo Credit: Stefanie Lee Johnson

STREAM: P.J.M. Bond, ‘In Our Time’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: P.J.M. Bond
Hometown: Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Album: In Our Time
Release Date: October 6, 2023
Label: Concerto Records

In Their Words: “In Our Time is an interdisciplinary indie-folk album based entirely on Ernest Hemingway’s short-story collection from 1925. While obtaining my Literary Studies MA at the University of Amsterdam, I started to dream of making a record based on a work of literature. Lightning struck when I reread Hemingway’s In Our Time and discovered a musical potential that had never been unearthed before: there’s nature and bullfights, the unspoken horrors of war, beauty beside chaos, fire and rain, and just so much youthful exuberance contained in Hemingway’s writing. And so I locked myself in a log cabin to write and record the songs, one for each of the stories from Hemingway’s marvelous work of fiction. I am extremely proud of my own In Our Time, and I am convinced that lovers of both Americana and American literature may rejoice and appreciate this album. Listen to it on a long hike, or drive, or on a rainy Autumn day over a cup of tea (or glass of whisky).” – P.J.M. Bond

Photo Credit: Nadia Morsink

STREAM: Secret Museum of Mankind – Atlas of Instruments: Fiddles Vol. 1

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Album: Secret Museum of Mankind – Atlas of Instruments: Fiddles Vol. 1
Release Date: September 15, 2023
Label: Jalopy Records

In Their Words: “The museum’s musical atlas of instruments continues with the opening of another wing, the first in a series on bowed instruments. To stretch boundaries over the earth and over time is to forsake them; whether it is a matter of Synchronizität or just the plain unconscious. In Western cultural history, the bowed instrument is a late installment, after centuries, of an almost primordial vibration that we imagine in sound; see in the old paintings; and yet can sample in the remnants of the ancient world captured on gramophone records.” – Pat Conte, curator

“The Secret Museum series is legendary. It opened up new possibilities for me when I first heard it in the 1990s. The curator is Pat Conte, he did something remarkable, even more so because it was before the internet: Starting in the 1970s he began assembling the first and arguably greatest collection of world music recorded in the 78 rpm record era of the 1920s – 1950s, give or take. He did it by casing junk stores in Queens, New York, the most diverse place in the world, and by maintaining letter correspondence with collectors and dealers across the globe. That is the music you will find on the Secret Museum of Mankind albums.

“Conte programs the records by feel, not with a predefined structure. The records are not meant to be academic, they are meant to move the listener. The movement is emotional, using music that was recorded in different places and at different times. Each listener will experience the sequence in their own way, and each track is its own world.

“The Secret Museum of Mankind: Atlas of Instruments – Fiddles, Vol. 1 continues the series and presents fiddle sounds developed and practiced across the globe. The compilation, drawn from Conte’s pioneering and remarkable personal collection of 78 rpm discs recorded in the 1920s – 1950s, offers fiddle music recorded across the world from Crete to Madagascar, Mexico, England, Sicily, Norway, India, the USA, Cape Verde, China and more.” – Eli Smith, producer

Image courtesy of Jalopy Records, Nick Loss-Eaton Media

STREAM: Listening Party, ‘Been a Long Time Comin’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Listening Party
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Album: Been a Long Time Comin’
Release Date: August 25, 2023

In Their Words: “Been a Long Time Comin’ is a collection of experiences and stories gathered over the last five years that have been immersed in the styles of folk, Americana and country. Representing the people, the places and the roads traveled, the songs display our personal growth as we entered our 30s and had to start confronting some of the hurdles that life tossed our way. The goal was to approach a few of these issues with a light-hearted storytelling voice so they didn’t have to seem so daunting, while hopefully leaving some room for the listener to feel hope and redemption. We did our best to acknowledge life’s trials, but also celebrate the positivity that the long journey has to offer. For us, Been a Long Time Comin’ will always be a polaroid of a time in our lives when we relied and leaned on each other to get by.” – Listening Party

Photo Credit: Jessica Kaminski

STREAM: Rachael Sage, ‘The Other Side’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Rachael Sage
Hometown: Hudson Valley, New York
Album: The Other Side
Release Date: July 21, 2023
Label: MPress Records

In Their Words: “The Other Side is my 15th album and yet, in some ways, it felt like I was starting all over again with this particular collection of songs and recordings. After we were all emerging from lockdown, I noticed there was such an intense awareness that nothing would ever be quite the same, but nor should it be. As a songwriter, how do you chronicle a time of so much loss, but also so much gratitude – just to still be able to live, anticipating all that you will see, do, and experience once you’re able to move freely, beyond a time of immediate crisis?

“My goal in creating this record was to channel a kind of zealousness and to transcend limitations, which we had all largely become accustomed during the pandemic – and, in so doing, to reignite hope. How does music and creative expression in general help us get back to the business of living, with renewed joy, courage, appreciation and even idealism? The dozen originals on the album all circle the theme of transcendence in some way, as do the handful of covers I selected. Yearning, forgiveness, breathing itself – only human beings can thoroughly understand the miracle it is to do all of these with reverence and uplift, after enduring trauma. I hope when people listen they hear not only my voice, but the echoes of refrains so many of us clung to over the last several years: Hopes and imaginings that kept us going, and family and friends, who we were reminded the hard way are the most precious legacy anyone can create in this lifetime.” – Rachael Sage

Photo Credit: Bill Bernstein

STREAM: Mike Thomas, ‘Diamonds’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Mike Thomas
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee (originally from Knoxville, Tennessee)
Album: Diamonds
Release Date: July 21, 2023
Label: Electric 3 Records

In Their Words: “After essentially giving up on music around 2006, I released my debut LP, Three Reasons, in the middle of the COVID pandemic in 2020. Talk about poor timing! We couldn’t tour or even play shows locally, and, despite having hardly any budget for promotion, the album did quite well. Folks bought the records, and in time, the album gained more than half a million streams. I was blown away that this collection of old songs that I’d been carrying around for more than a decade seemed to resonate with listeners. This was the catalyst that prompted me to begin writing songs again. It was the spark I needed to begin believing that even though I wasn’t part of the Nashville hit-making machine, I was still a songwriter in my own right with something worthwhile to say.

“So while Diamonds is my second record, in many ways it feels like my first. With Diamonds, I set out to write an album. I carved out time, usually in the early morning hours, and I wrote with intentionality and purpose. I began to explore themes that are often uncomfortable and deeply personal, yet simultaneously universal. Tres Sasser, my producer, and I pursued those themes in the studio with our instrumentation and arrangements. In the end, I think we have an album that reveals my varied musical and lyrical influences while still maintaining a sense of continuity throughout. I wrote this album for the listeners who ultimately convinced me to begin writing songs again, and I am hopeful that this record helps send a few more listeners my way.” – Mike Thomas

Photo Credit: Jeremy Harris

STREAM: The Wild Feathers, ‘Medium Rarities’

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Wild Feathers
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Album: Medium Rarities
Release Date: November 20, 2020

In Their Words: “Medium Rarities is a group of songs that we’ve always loved, but just kinda fell through the cracks when it came to sequencing each record. We wrote and recorded some new songs and had some fun doing some covers of tunes we’ve always loved. Putting new music out into the world is always a great and strange feeling. We’re so proud of it and can’t wait for people to hear them.” — Ricky Young, The Wild Feathers

Photo credit: Rachel Moore

STREAM: Alan Barnosky, ‘Lonesome Road’

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Alan Barnosky
Hometown: Durham, North Carolina
Album: Lonesome Road EP
Release Date: January 17, 2020

In Their Words: “I typically have a less-is-more approach when it comes to writing music. My first record from 2017 definitely reflects that, it was a stripped-down songwriter album with all songs performed solo or as a duo. However, when it came to recording again I felt that six of my songs really worked best in more of a full-band arrangement, so I pulled together some of my musical collaborators and good friends and we recorded this EP to showcase those songs specifically. The focus of this record is still very much on the song, but it also features musical aspects that are harder to achieve as a solo or duo, like instrumental solos, some three-part harmonies, and an instrumental tune that highlights the individual players. Although there are more musicians on this record than my last, it is still very simple in terms of production.

“Since the EP compiles a variety of songs that I felt would work best with a band, not all of these songs are new to me. In fact, one, in particular, is pretty old. I wrote ‘Might Be a Call’ over 10 years ago using my mom’s old Gibson Hummingbird guitar that has long since been sold at a garage sale. I sat on the song knowing that it would only sound right if it was on a full-band recording. Other songs were written within months of recording, including the third track ‘Ain’t It a Shame’ and the instrumental ‘Sawtooth Ridge.’ Though the timeline of these songs spans a wide period of my life, the themes are actually pretty consistent. They carry imagery of weary traveling and a search for something better.” — Alan Barnosky

Photo credit: Mick Schulte

STREAM: The Infamous Stringdusters, ‘Live From Covington Kentucky’

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Infamous Stringdusters
Album: Live From Covington Kentucky
Release Date: November 15, 2019
Label: Tape Time Records

In Their Words: “I remember walking off stage that night in Covington, Kentucky and everyone in the band feeling like everything connected. The crowd, the music, the band — all felt like one for the night, and so we decided right then and there to release this show. [I] took the files to my studio and remixed the show, intentionally leaving as much audience in the mix as I could because, as in all our shows, I felt like they were as big a part of the energy as anything else. The goal was to bring the feeling of actually being at the show in to the mix. We believe it succeeded and, hope everyone can feel the love and gratitude we have for our fans in this release.” — Andy Falco, The Infamous Stringdusters

Photo Credit: Tony Hume