Tag: Ian Fitchuk

Give Them a Hand: Joy Oladokun & Chris Stapleton Unite on “Sweet Symphony”

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It’s true — Joy Oladokun and Chris Stapleton are sharing the spotlight in a new video. What’s even better news, the project features puppet-ized versions of both. In “Sweet Symphony,” Oladokun and Stapleton go back and forth, trading verses on a precious love song that has the glow of timeless classics and wedding ballads. It’s both heavy and happy in the way that it pulls you in to deliver a warm message about love. Oladokun wrote the song with Ian Fitchuk and Shae Jacobs. She also co-produced the track with Fitchuk and Mike Elizondo.

The decision to feature puppet versions of the singers wasn’t made without intention; instead, the video treatment was drawn from Oladokun’s childhood. “I felt really inspired as a black kid watching Sesame Street and The Muppets because we live in a world where our differences separate us, and these shows were so clearly modeled through the art form that differences don’t matter,” she says. “I love the surrealism and realism that puppet art blends together because it teaches us cool lessons about how we should treat others.”

Take a look at Joy Oladokun and Chris Stapleton’s “Sweet Symphony” below.

LISTEN: Hush Kids, “Weatherman”

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Artist: Hush Kids (Jill Andrews & Peter Groenwald)
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Weatherman”
Album: Weatherman EP
Release Date: September 24, 2021

In Their Words: “During the spring of 2020, when we were in lockdown, it rained, poured really, for days, maybe even weeks. My husband Jerred has lived most of his adult life in dry arid places and he wasn’t used to it. He would look outside almost every day, saddened by the dark sky and soggy earth. He would say, ‘This place just never stops. It’s like a rain forest.’ I always like to put a silver lining on things so my response was usually something like, ‘I guess that’s why it’s so green and beautiful here.’ But the sunless days can take their toll on the best of us, and I could tell that he was feeling down as the rainy days and tumultuous weather wore on.

“All of this was on my mind that day last spring when I got together with Ian [Fitchuk, the duo’s producer] and Peter to write for the next Hush Kids record. We sat on Ian’s back porch and caught up for a long time, enjoying being in each other’s presence so much because it had been a while since we’d last seen each other. This one came easily to us and I think we all cried a little when we were writing it. I’m so happy that we can share it with you guys today! I hope that your days are sunny even when the rain is pouring down.” — Jill Andrews

“This was the first song I had written in person for maybe eight months. We were on a porch, it felt kind of weird, but we trusted each other. Jill said she had an idea, and I believe she sang what is now the first line of the song. I tend to have a look on my face when I think something is amazing, and it actually looks like I’m disgusted… food, art, music… it’s more of a look of disbelief that something can be that good. That’s how I looked when Jill shared this idea with us.” — Peter Groenwald

Photo credit: Nathan Zucker

WATCH: Lydia Luce, “Tangerine”

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Artist: Lydia Luce
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Tangerine”
Album: Azalea

In Their Words: “I started taking contemporary ballet classes at the Nashville Ballet where I met Erin Kouwe who teaches these amazing classes. We started chatting about doing a creative project together and I sent her my recent record Azalea for her to pick a song to create a choreography to. She picked my song, ‘Tangerine.’ Erin does a lot of work with Nashville’s contemporary ballet group called New Dialect. She hired several incredible dancers most of which are or have been in this group.

“The videographer/editor David Flores also a member of New Dialect. It was so lovely getting to work him because he knew what he wanted to see in our movements as an incredible dancer. Both Erin and I feel the importance of cross collaborating between artistic genres. Nashville may be known as a music city but there is an abundance in variety of arts here and I’d love to find new ways to keep collaborating with other types of artists.

“I wrote ‘Tangerine’ with Ian Fitchuk and Todd Lombardo last year. We were sipping on some Tangerine La Croix when inspiration struck. Todd is an incredible guitar player and he started playing the part that you hear on the track. Ian picked up a banjo and started using it percussively and that’s actually the sound that drive the song in the recording as well. It worked so well when we were writing it we decided to track it that way.

“‘Tangerine’ has a similar story to Dolly Parton’s song, ‘Jolene.’ The narrator is comparing themselves to this enchanting Tangerine character who she assumes has this great power of seduction that she doesn’t have. In the bridge she is asking her lover, ‘If I were more like her, would you look at me the same way?'” –Lydia Luce

Photo credit: Kane Stewart

WATCH: Sean McConnell, “Here We Go”

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Artist: Sean McConnell
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Here We Go” (stream the studio version)
Album: Secondhand Smoke
Release Date: February 8, 2019
Label: Big Picnic Records

In Their Words: “I am very taken with, and have spent my life listening for, that voice that speaks to you in the silence. The one that calls you on adventures, that steers you towards your truth, and that reminds you, or at least reminds me, that this universe is so much more than what we can experience with our five senses. I am a firm believer in signs and following them. This is a song about that kind of listening and watching. It was a real thrill to write it with my friend, the supremely talented Ian Fitchuk.

“This live video was made at Pentavarit studios where the ‘Secondhand Smoke’ record was mixed by my friend and sonic wizard Bobby Holland, who also recorded and mixed this live version. Performing alongside me is the amazing Ben Alleman who will be joining me on tour. I love this slowed-down and vibed-out take of this song. I hope you enjoy.”— Sean McConnell

Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins