Tag: Los Angeles

BGS Wraps: Rich Hinman, “White Christmas”

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Artist: Rich Hinman
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “White Christmas”
Album: Christmastown

In Their Words: “The songs on Christmastown originally came from a holiday show I played with David Piltch and Barbara Gruska at 1642 in LA in December 2019. We had a few hours to fill, and initially my impulse was to find lesser-known Christmas songs to explore — but overwhelmingly the ones that stuck out, that were the most fun to play, were songs that literally everybody knows. It was easy to feel connected to material I’d been hearing since I was a child. We made the record over two sessions, four days total, in 2021 and 2022 at Barbara’s studio and at Lucy’s Meat Market, a familiar spot in Los Angeles; we worked fast so as not to overthink or get bogged down in anything. ‘White Christmas’ was recorded at Barbara’s place in 2021; I slid a piece of foam under the bridge of my pedal steel to get the muted sound you’re hearing. Overall, it was hard to sound bad playing an Irving Berlin song with David and Barbara.” — Rich Hinman

LISTEN: The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers, “Light of Day”

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Artist: The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Light of Day”
Release Date: December 2, 2022

In Their Words: “‘Light of Day’ is an Americana folk rock song featuring a choir, banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and auxiliary percussion. It pulls from artists like The Beatles, Nick Drake, and Paul Simon. The song is about confronting the past and realizing that regret is silly. It’s about recognizing that even poor decisions are valuable. It’s about letting the bad times lead to better times. The song is about letting the hard seasons in life lead us to the good ones. It’s about finding peace in learning the hard way. ‘Light of Day’ is about being thankful for the painful teachable moments in life and having a bit of a sense of humor about it. Enjoy.” — Jeremy Horton, The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers

Photo Credit: Matt Wingall

LISTEN: The Morning Yells, “Jagged Blue”

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Artist: The Morning Yells
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Jagged Blue”
Album: Moonlight Mountain Bungalow
Release Date: October 28, 2022
Label: Golden Boy Records

In Their Words: “‘Jagged Blue’ was written on the winding pass going up to Big Bear Mountain in the wintertime. It’s a song about longing for the old days when love was new, and trying to convince your beloved they can still have that spark, after too long a time spent in a neglectful winter of the heart. A bittersweet song about dusting off the ice on a jagged and jaded heart and rekindling that fire, time and again, because we have to — to lose all hope would be too sad, and we just can’t have that. A song for the weary, faithful kind.” — Lulu Stancil, The Morning Yells

The Morning Yells · Jagged Blue

Photo Credit: James Dierx

LISTEN: The Williams Brothers, “Tears Only Run One Way”

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Artist: The Williams Brothers
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Tears Only Run One Way”
Album: Memories to Burn
Release Date: October 21, 2022
Label: Regional Records

In Their Words: “The record is a snapshot of where we were at the time. The entire album was recorded in two days, all live and off the cuff in my small one-room studio. It was a breath of fresh air after spending months and even years on our earlier records. We went back to our roots of growing up singing the Everly Brothers’ hits, and we think that’s why we were able to capture the songs so quickly and easily. ‘Tears Only Run One Way’ fell into our laps from a close friend, who happened to be Robbie Fulks’ publisher. We became instant fans of Robbie’s as soon as we heard his songs. The musical arrangement was done on the spot, with everyone coming up with their own parts. We especially like Marvin Etzioni’s descending solo bass line into each chorus and Greg Leisz’s masterful lap steel throughout.” — Andrew and David Williams, The Williams Brothers

LISTEN: Rose’s Pawn Shop, “Gratitude”

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Artist: Rose’s Pawn Shop
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Gratitude”
Album: Punch-Drunk Life
Release Date: November 4, 2022
Label: KZZ Music

In Their Words: “The song came to me in a solo writing session when I had sat down with my guitar hoping to write something. I started strumming some chords and humming a melody that fit the chords and a feeling started to emerge. That melody slowly morphed into the words ‘my eyes are raining blue, my heart’s a drawer full of IOUs and gratitude.’ And I realized I was writing a song about several people I had lost in my life in the past few years. And how the pain of those losses is often intermingled with a sense of love and gratitude for loved ones who have given us so much you feel they can never be fully repaid, and now they’re gone.” — Paul Givant, Rose’s Pawn Shop

Photo Credit: Scott Chernis

LISTEN: The Dales, “Burn It Slow”

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Artist: The Dales
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Burn It Slow”
Album: Multi Trick Pony
Release Date: September 23, 2022
Label: DB Records

In Their Words: “The song is inspired by a movie star I was working with last year. She’s extremely successful, yet so down to earth and easy to hang with. It seemed like we had known each other for a long time. We had a lot in common, including our love for nature. While working on the song, we tried a couple of different chorus ideas and came up with the simpler ‘oh oh — nice to know — someone who likes to burn it slow.’ It’s an homage to people who don’t come off too strong, don’t try too hard and instead present themselves authentically.” — Drew Lawrence (co-founder, The Dales)

The Dales · Burn It Slow

Photo Credit: Stacy Hunter

WATCH: Tim Baker, “Echo Park”

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Artist: Tim Baker
Hometown: St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Song: “Echo Park”
Album: The Festival
Release Date: October 21, 2022
Label: End Times Music

In Their Words: “This is a simple song about moving from Newfoundland to Los Angeles, losing track and getting lost in all the clear skies and windless days, waiting for a big break that never seems to come, yearning for it, and of course, in turn, for your home so unlike it, so far away. I wrote this song in almost one single sitting in a rare hotel room to myself, somewhere in the sandy southwestern states, on tour with Hey Rosetta years ago.

“Since it’s a song all about being buoyed up by winds of change and hope through heavy homesickness, I really wanted to film myself singing it while hang-gliding. When in Florida visiting family, I noticed boats parasailing back and forth along the beach everyday. I called around and found one company (with the stars-and-stripes chute to boot) whom I convinced to let me fly with a guitar and have my brother film me on his drone and whattayaknow it actually worked! Here is the cinematic magic from that hour on the Gulf.” — Tim Baker

Photo Credit: Jason Burns

LISTEN: Brandon Jenner, “One of a Kind”

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Artist: Brandon Jenner
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “One of a Kind”
Album: Oversized Soul
Release Date: September 2, 2022
Label: Nettwerk Music Group

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘One of a Kind’ after having a very realistic dream. In that dream, my lovely wife decided to move my truck to a field next to our house when she misjudged a pile of rocks and broke my truck in half. I ran over to see if I could help and then woke up. I thought it was funny that at the time in my dream all I was worried about was the state of my truck and not of whether or not my wife was OK. It sure sounded like an idea for a good country song.” — Brandon Jenner

Photo Credit: Magdalena Wosinska