Tag: premiere

LISTEN: Chuck Hawthorne, “Such Is Life (C’est La Vie)”

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Artist: Chuck Hawthorne
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Such Is Life (C’est La Vie)”
Album: Fire Out Of Stone
Release Date: July 26, 2019
Label: 3 Notches Music

In Their Words: “‘Such Is Life (C’est La Vie)’ is a biker song with a French chorus…inspired by a story I heard about a biker’s last days and how his motorcycle club took his ashes on one last ride up into the mountains. Here’s a guy too stoved up to ride, so he takes up a guitar and goes on trips in his mind. Such is life.” — Chuck Hawthorne

Photo credit: Valerie Fremin

LISTEN: An American Forrest, “Dark to Dark”

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Artist: An American Forrest
Hometown: Powatke, Oregon
Song: “Dark to Dark”
Album: O Bronder, Donder Yonder?
Release Date: May 10, 2019
Label: OK Records

In Their Words: “When I apprenticed to the study of horsemanship, my wages were bed and board; my hours were dark to dark. This song comes from being just as ‘green,’ or uneducated, as the horse you’re riding, and a song about growing from that, maturing in ways you don’t expect, learning patience and discipline and sensitivity from the horse while teaching those things to the horse. What is a ‘horse as light as morning?’ Well, that horse could be light in color, or it could be finely trained and ‘light’ on the reins. A Barb-y Mustang would be a horse descended from feral North American horses showing characteristics of the old Spanish Barb breed.” — Forrest Van Tuyl, An American Forrest

Photo credit: Nicole Freshley

WATCH: “Song for Ora,” Jacob Navarro with Navid Eliot

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Artist: Jacob Navarro with Navid Eliot
Hometown: Anacortes, Washington
Song: “Song for Ora”
Album: Otter House Sketches

In Their Words: “This melody came about while thinking of my daughter, who is now all grown up and a mom herself, a fact that never ceases to amaze me! I found that I could focus on the song’s intention best by just letting the guitar do the talking, and it ended up becoming the first of a few instrumental songs on my new record, Otter House Sketches. We filmed this video where I mixed the record, in an old marina warehouse called The Baitshop. There aren’t many hole in the wall art spaces left in Seattle, because most have been hit with the wrecking ball and turned into condos, but this one is still standing. There’s a little greasy spoon at the end of the building, where after an all-nighter of mixing songs you can blearily walk downstairs and grab a coffee and some pancakes, and look out at the boats in the marina. It’s perfect, really!” — Jacob Navarro

Photo credit: Luke Dumke

LISTEN: Luke Winslow-King, “Going to New Orleans”

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Artist: Luke Winslow-King
Hometown: Cadillac, Michigan
Song: “Going to New Orleans” (single)
Release Date: April 26, 2019
Label: Bloodshot Records

In Their Words: “‘Going to New Orleans’ is this song I learned street busking in New Orleans. The oldest version that I can find is that of Babe Stovall. Babe was a notorious street performer through the ’60s and ’70s. His original version was entitled ‘G’wine to New Orleans.’ I also mixed in a few lyrics from Danny Barker’s Mardi Gras Indian classic ‘Chocko Mee Feendo Hey’ and wrote a few of my own verses. Roberto Luti (Playing for Change) is on electric guitar, and Chris Davis (King James and the Special Men) are featured prominently on the track.” — Luke Winslow-King

Photo credit: Victor Alonso

WATCH: The Gibson Brothers, “Sweet Lucinda”

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Artist: The Gibson Brothers
Hometown: Ellenburg Depot, New York
Song: “Sweet Lucinda”
Album: Mockingbird
Label: Easy Eye Sound

In Their Words: “We wrote ‘Sweet Lucinda’ with Dan Auerbach and Joe Allen. Before cutting it, I knew we had a song that lent itself to harmony, which it does, but then the band got a hold of it in the studio. What a GROOVE! I remember the guys being pumped after we got the take, lots of smiling and laughing. Here we’re recording with all these legends who have cut countless songs, and they’re excited by what we’ve all just done. I think of that every time I hear this song.” — Eric Gibson, The Gibson Brothers

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

LISTEN: The South Austin Moonlighters, “Nowhere Left to Run”

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Artist: The South Austin Moonlighters
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Nowhere Left to Run”
Album: Travel Light
Release Date: May 17, 2019
Label: Station House Records

In Their Words: “I had once heard it said from a well-known songwriter, ‘If you ever have a chance to kill someone off in a song, do it!’ I guess this was running through my mind one pale winter’s morning while strumming on a Fender Stratocaster unplugged. I’m not sure who this poor fellow is, or how he was handed such a bad hand in life, but it paints a picture. I particularly like the line that says, ‘Now he’s staring into his child’s eyes telling thinly veiled lies about mamma and baby and things now in the past.’ Pretty damn dark! But then, you get the shift to a major key for the chorus that makes things seem somewhat brighter.” — Phil Hurley, The South Austin Moonlighters

Photo credit: Valerie Fremin

LISTEN: Dan Hubbard, “We Are One”

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Artist: Dan Hubbard
Hometown: Bloomington, Illinois
Song: “We Are One”
Album: Attention
Release Date: April 26, 2019

In Their Words: “When I listen to Top 40 radio, seemingly every song is about having sex (not that there is anything wrong with that) but they are rarely about making love, and more about satisfying our own desires and treating one another like objects. This song is about the sacred experience of being intimate with someone in a relationship based on mutual love and respect. Musically we tried to make the verses feel easy and free, similar to Tom Petty’s ‘Wildflowers,’ with the choruses bringing in the intensity and a change of pace.” — Dan Hubbard

Photo credit: Dani Lang

LISTEN: Chain Station, “Half Full”

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Artist: Chain Station
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Song: “Half Full”
Album: Backroads
Release Date: May 3, 2019

In Their Words: “‘Half Full’ is a laid-back, feel-good bluegrass song that’s all about positivity, living the good life and finding the light on the darkest days. ‘Half Full’ was inspired by my father, Pat Pickett, whose humor and energy were, and are, a comfort to everyone he met. This song is a celebration, so raise your glasses and…keep your glass half full!” — Jon Pickett, bassist, Chain Station

Photo credit: Johnny Brewers

LISTEN: Steel Blossoms, “Kentucky’s Never Been This Far”

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Artist: Steel Blossoms
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Kentucky’s Never Been This Far”
Album: Steel Blossoms
Release Date: April 26, 2019
Label: Billy Jam Records

In Their Words: “‘Kentucky’s Never Been This Far” is the first song we ever recorded that we didn’t write. The second we heard it, we looked at each other and said, ‘We need this song.’ We both travel so much and are constantly away from our loved ones, that sometimes 100 miles feels like a million miles away. This song is so beautifully written and what Jerry did with the instrumentation is just amazing. We are so lucky to have it on our album.” –Steel Blossoms

Photo credit: Stacie Huckeba

LISTEN: Izabel Crane, “Spring Fed River”

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Artist: Izabel Crane
Hometown: Springfield, Missouri
Song: “Spring Fed River”
Album: Spring Fed River b/w Creature (single)
Release Date: April 26, 2019

In Their Words: “I watched someone whom I loved very much walk into a tributary of the James River and walk back to me with a completely serene face. Like the water had washed his soul. It was weird and it made me think of the black-and-white photographs I have of my grandmother’s baptism. A pastor, with a white cloth pressed against her nose, pushing her into the river. I like thinking that there is some sort of magic to the rivers and creeks around here, that the water can fix a soul when it’s hurting.” — Liz Carney (aka Izabel Crane)

Photo credit: Cole Simmons