Tag: alt

LISTEN: Rod Gator, “Out Here in Echo Park”

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Artist: Rod Gator (aka Rod Melancon)
Hometown: Wright, Louisiana
Song: “Out Here in Echo Park”
Album: For Louisiana
Release Date: September 17, 2021
Label: Blue Élan Records

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Out Here in Echo Park’ during my last year living in Echo Park. Every evening I’d walk five miles down to the L.A. River and sit along the bank. It was one of the most peaceful times of my life. During the walk I’d hear Spanish music playing from windows and watch the sun slowly set. East L.A. means a lot to me. It’s where I go in my mind when I feel overwhelmed. I picture myself sitting along the L.A. River. I miss Echo Park everyday. It’s the place where I finally began to feel comfortable in my own skin.” — Rod Gator

Photo credit: David McClister

LISTEN: Chris Robley, “Love Is a Four-Letter Word”

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Artist: Chris Robley
Hometown: Lewiston, Maine
Song: “Love Is a Four-Letter Word”
Album: A Filament in the Wilderness of What Comes Next
Release Date: September 14, 2021
Label: Cutthroat Pop Records

In Their Words: “Bob Dylan wrote a song called ‘Love Is a Four-Letter Word.’ I didn’t know that until I was on stage announcing my new song and someone shouted, ‘I LOVE Dylan!’ Anyway, you can’t copyright titles and I didn’t borrow any other lyrics — so we’re not in Darius Rucker or Old Crow Medicine Show territory here. It’s all mine, Bob! I don’t know if there’s much to explain except the obvious: love can be a double-edged sword. We can build beautiful things inspired by love. Or we can build walls, reactionary political movements, or just act like selfish shitheads, all because of the same basic force. One word, different outcomes.” — Chris Robley

Photo credit: Lauren Breau

WATCH: Aisha Badru, “The Way Back Home”

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Artist: Aisha Badru
Hometown: Orlando, Florida
Song: “The Way Back Home”
Album: The Way Back Home EP
Release Date: December 3, 2021
Label: Nettwerk Records

In Their Words: “During my early 20s, I left home, pursed my wildest dreams, traveled the world, and made decisions with my heart that allowed me to experience the fullness of life. This freedom allowed me to become the person I am today. ‘The Way Back Home’ is written from the perspective of someone who understands that in order for one to be whole, they have to go on a self-exploration journey alone. This song explores non-possessiveness in relationships. It embodies a confidence that allows our loved ones to grow without the fear of losing them.” — Aisha Badru

Photo credit: Jeffery Trapani

LISTEN: Ava Earl, “New Light”

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Artist: Ava Earl
Hometown: Girdwood, Alaska
Song: “New Light”
Album: The Roses
Release Date: July 23, 2021

In Their Words: “‘New Light’ was one of the first love songs I wrote. It’s about the early time in a relationship where you keep finding little things that change the way you see a person (hopefully good things)! This song is also a little existential — it deals with the wonder and mystery of the universe as well as that of love. When you meet someone that you feel so deeply connected to, it feels like there must be a reason you were brought together, and yet rationally, I don’t believe that there is. I’m not sure I’ll ever know exactly if there’s a greater meaning to life, but for me this song is about being okay with that, and always finding a new way to look at beautiful things.” — Ava Earl

Photo credit: Shannon Earl

WATCH: Malena Cadiz, “Motel Evangeline”

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Artist: Malena Cadiz
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Motel Evangeline”
Album: Chasing Smoke
Release Date: July 16, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Motel Evangeline’ was inspired by a motel on the coast of Quebec, all about loss and memory, about returning alone to a place that was once meaningful to a relationship. The verses touch on that beautiful, arrogant feeling of youth, that maybe these moments can last forever. ‘Wandering stars in the parking lot / All you lose is all you got / Oh we got lots of time.’ The chorus reminisces about swimming way out past the breakers, wishing the other person was still there. For the video the director Audrey McGee and I were inspired by plant masks and the work of Phyllis Galembo. We used dried flowers to create the ‘creature’ and the tulle as an ephemeral character, like memory difficult to grasp and always transforming.” — Malena Cadiz

Photo credit: Audrey McGee

WATCH: Erik Stucky, “Heaven Only Knows”

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Artist: Erik Stucky
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Heaven Only Knows”
Album: Good Vibrations
Release Date: August 6, 2021
Label: Binasaur Records

In Their Words: “This song is one of my favorites on the album. It brings a bit of depth and intensity to the concept of Good Vibrations. Specifically, there are things we can do with our time to improve this situation: ‘Heaven only knows what is possible, if we love ourselves like we are capable.’ This has a bit of a double meaning in that love for others is only possible to the extent that we love our individual selves. We are all one, and when we further love our individual self we simultaneously extend that love for the greater whole… humanity, the world, the universe, the never-ending consciousness. Amen.” — Erik Stucky

Photo credit: Chad Krash

LISTEN: Naomi Westwater, “Americana”

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Artist: Naomi Westwater
Hometown: Brockton, Massachusetts
Song: “Americana”
Album: Feelings
Release Date: September 3, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Americana’ is a song about race and pain. It’s a song about being in the in-between. This is a song for multiracial Americans — for every person who’s been asked, ‘What are you?’ This is for the people who are white, and Black, and brown all at once, and at the same time never white, or Black, or brown enough. This is my love letter to America, I think we need to break up? This song is me asking, post-racial America? For who?” — Naomi Westwater

Photo credit: blahnik x westwater

WATCH: Andrea von Kampen, “Water Flowing Downward”

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Artist: Andrea von Kampen
Hometown: Lincoln, Nebraska
Song: “Water Flowing Downward”
Album: That Spell
Release Date: August 6, 2021
Label: Fantasy Records

In Their Words: “The way I approached the writing of this song was different than usual. I wrote the lyrics one afternoon to an old hymn tune called ‘Beach Spring.’ I had just watched the film Parasite and was feeling restless to create and get my thoughts out and these tumbled out but I knew the hymn tune never really worked. I filed it all away and four months later my brother David and I thought about co-writing the last song on the record and I remembered these lyrics. I sent them over and by early July we had our song. I love the moodiness of the piano and strings and the sound of a perpetual movement.” — Andrea von Kampen

Photo credit: Mark Cluney

WATCH: Nathaniel Rateliff Adds a String Quartet to “And It’s Still Alright”

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Nathaniel Rateliff’s And It’s Still Alright album is the product of a tumultuous time in the writer’s life, but such are the circumstances that yield the most compelling songs, records, and artistic expressions. In this NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert filmed at the Mercury Café in Denver, Rateliff performs several songs from the 2020 record, including the title track and “All or Nothing,” a more wistful selection. Since the Tiny Desk shows have reformatted to accommodate for safety, the features have frequently been scaled-back performances, often filmed in the homes of the artists, but in this case, Rateliff adds his band and a string quartet to the studio-like space. The surroundings may not be as iconic as the actual Tiny Desk, but we’re thankful that artists are going above and beyond to give us outstanding mini concerts. This Tiny Desk set is no different, and like the album, it crescendos gradually from an atmospheric, ponderous beginning to a triumphant, boisterous finale with the songs “Redemption” and “Mavis.”

Photo credit: Rett Rogers

WATCH: Jeremy Squires, “Fade”

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Artist: Jeremy Squires
Hometown: New Bern, North Carolina
Song: “Fade”
Album: UNRAVEL
Release Date: July 30, 2021
Label: Blackbird Record Label

In Their Words: “‘Fade’ is about facing yourself and revisiting memories and/or demons and coming to terms with them. There were so many things going through my head when I wrote this song. My grandmother had passed and my life was changing and the people around me were changing and spiraling. I was faced with difficult life choices I had to make and this song was an outlet.

“The video for ‘Fade’ was filmed at various locations in my hometown and in a small neighboring town. I filmed multiple scenes in my granny’s old home that she left to me. I feel the lyrics reflect the imagery in the video. I filmed a specific scene as I burned a life’s worth of papers and collected memories outside in her yard one night with an old crutch and it was cathartic. ‘Fade’ is one of my favorite videos and I feel that it is one of the best songs on the album. It is definitely one that I am connected to.” — Jeremy Squires

Photo credit: Shelley Ann Squires