Tag: premiere

LISTEN: Terry Klein, “Anika”

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Artist: Terry Klein
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Anika”
Album: tex
Release Date: January 25, 2019

In Their Words: “I wrote this one for all of the people who’ve broken my heart, and Anika’s bad luck is that she has a cool, memorable name. She’s the first girl who ever kissed me. We were six and I remember she had a skating rink in her backyard and lived around the corner. She denied it happened for years after and then I moved away and I haven’t spoken to her since. Apparently she’s now an actress.” — Terry Klein

 

Photo credit: Valerie Fremin

LISTEN: Graeme James, “To Be Found By Love”

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Artist: Graeme James
Hometown: Wellington, New Zealand.
Song: “To Be Found By Love”
Album: The Long Way Home
Release Date: January 25, 2019
Label: Nettwerk

In Their Words: “The Long Way Home is an exploration of time and space through the motif of a journey. Most of the songs were actually written while preparing to leave my homeland New Zealand to live on the other side of the world. In that sense, the record is a journey album of someone who hasn’t yet left, filled with all the hopes, doubts, fears and excitement of someone who can’t see the future clearly. When I left New Zealand I was 100% certain that I would return at some point. I still have no idea when that will be, but by traveling to the other side of the world for an undetermined period of time I’m taking the longest possible way home, hence the title of the album. I think the lyrics of “To Be Found By Love” really capture the emotion I first felt: ‘If people ask for me, tell them I’m off on an adventure, I’m lost on purpose to be found by love.’ It has certainly been a wild ride so far!” — Graeme James

Photo courtesy of Nettwerk

LISTEN: Melody Guy, “Dry the Rivers”

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Artist: Melody Guy
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Dry the Rivers”
Album: Dry the Rivers
Release Date: January 25, 2019

In Their Words: “In my first apartment in Nashville, I went through a very depressing time in my life and had never lived anywhere with cockroaches. Eek! I woke up in the morning and stared out into the grey cold hallway. I couldn’t have been lower. The first line is ‘I’ve got monsters creepin’ in, I hear voices speaking sin.’ The monsters were emotional as well as the physical ones, the dark thoughts of: ‘How did I get there? There’s no way out.’ I decided that day I was not going down like this. I will be happy, I will continue, I will not let this winter emotion or season destroy me. My daughter Delaney Smith is singing harmony on this song as well, and when her harmonies come in, my heart starts to glow with happiness.” — Melody Guy

Photo credit: Cathy Partridge

LISTEN: Adam Klein, “Low Flyin’ Planes”

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Artist: Adam Klein
Hometown: Atlanta via Athens, Georgia
Song: “Low Flyin’ Planes”
Album: Low Flyin’ Planes
Release Date: March 1, 2019
Label: Cowboy Angel Music

In Their Words: “This is the title track and centerpiece of the record, and the most sparse song in terms of instrumentation. To me, it cuts to the core of what this album is about. The expression of someone still searching, on a journey toward a sense of fulfillment. The narrator is barely lifting off, nearly scraping the ground, one misstep away from some kind of rock bottom. Then again, maybe they will rise — who knows? It may be a song about passivity, not exercising agency in one’s own life, and enduring what can be called the poverty of vulnerability. For those to whom these notions resonate, may we practice peace, acceptance, and compassion, not only to others, but also to ourselves.” — Adam Klein

Photo credit: Jeff Shipman

WATCH: Abigail Lapell, “Down by the Water”

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Artist: Abigail Lapell
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
Song: “Down by the Water”
Album: Getaway
Release Date: February 1, 2019
Label: Coax Records

In Their Words: “‘Down by the Water’ is a springtime song, so there’s a lot of imagery of renewal or redemption, and even some biblical symbolism, suggesting an escape to a better place — whether literal or metaphorical. The song evokes the idea of getting away somewhere isolated, away from the world, in order to rediscover your voice or calling — something that ultimately deepens your sense of connection to the world. Like a songwriting retreat!

“I love singing with Dana Sipos, who’s featured on this song and is an amazing songwriter — and people often tell us we sound like sisters, which is a bonkers compliment to me because she has one of my favourite voices of all time. We’ve toured together a bunch (including by bike and canoe) so we’ve had a good amount of practice singing on each other’s songs. For this tune we recorded live-off-the-floor in the studio, in a room together; no headphones or isolation, just a guitar and our two voices. So it’s one of the simplest arrangements on the album.

“This was my first time making a music video, and it was a really fun and surprisingly time-intensive process. It was filmed by Brittany Farhat at Union Sound Studios in Toronto, which is such a beautiful (and photogenic!) space, and I edited it very slowly over several months. Also featured in the video is Chris Stringer, my wonderful producer, who was one of a small team that started the studio — they built it literally from the ground up a few years ago. It’s also where I met my fiancé, while working on my last album there. So this video and location are particularly special to me.” — Abigail Lapell

Photo credit: Gaelle Legrand

LISTEN: Lindi Ortega, “Liberty” (from ‘Liberty: Piano Songbook’)

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Artist: Lindi Ortega
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Song: “Liberty”
Album: Liberty: Piano Songbook
Release Date: January 25, 2019
Label: Shadowbox Music

In Their Words: “What I love about the Piano Songbook version of ‘Liberty’ is how it still has this vintage vibe to it. I immediately picture this tune being played on an old Western saloon piano. I think the sense of triumph is still captured in the chorus but new elements reveal themselves in the melody, and in the bridge of the song that allows it to take a new shape. It’s been extremely interesting for me to get a real sense of the melodies without vocals. Piano has always been an instrument I truly respect and love the sound of; to be honest, I don’t think a full instrumental would work properly with any single instrument other than piano. Piano has body, richness and fullness all on its own. ‘Liberty’ was one of the more produced songs on the original record, and for it to still carry itself with piano is really cool.” — Lindi Ortega

Photo credit: Kate Nutt

WATCH: NewTown, “Long Hard Road”

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Artist name: NewTown
Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky
Song: “Long Hard Road”
Album: Old World
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “This is one of the coolest tunes Tyler Childers has written. It speaks about the hardship of a long-distance relationship, something I’m sure a lot of folks can connect with. The video for the song was such a joy to make, surrounded by a few close friends and family. We used The Burl in Lexington, Kentucky, for the shoot — a beautiful venue! We hope people will enjoy the labor we put into this; we think it was well worth it. Enjoy!!” — Jr. Williams, NewTown banjo player and vocalist

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

WATCH: Si Cliff, “Run”

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Artist: Si Cliff
Hometown: London, UK
Song: “Run”
Release Date: January 15, 2019

In Their Words: “The track ‘Run’ started out as two separate voice recordings of the chorus melody and bass line. An idea that I arranged on guitar later that week turned into what you hear now. The starting groove of the verse came to me when practicing and it fit so well. The lyrics are about having lots of chances not to face up to things these days, with many apps and endless media sources to preoccupy us. We can find excuses to put real life and decisions on hold when the time to do them is now.” — Si Cliff

Photo credit: John Powell

LISTEN: Joshua Ray Walker, “Burn It”

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Artist: Joshua Ray Walker
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Song: “Burn It”
Album: Wish You Were Here
Release Date: January 25, 2019
Label: State Fair Records

In Their Words: “Listeners probably won’t notice right away, because of the quick tempo and boisterous production, but ‘Burn It’ is the most autobiographical song on the record that paints me in an unflattering light. It’s about losing control, being overwhelmed with emotion in a way that only results in self-destruction, self-defamation, and self-medication. A song with this sort of emotion couldn’t be a lamentation or sound melancholic; it needed to be angry.” — Joshua Ray Walker

Photo credit: Josh David Jordan

LISTEN: Pierce Pettis, “Your Father’s Son”

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Artist: Pierce Pettis
Hometown: Mentone, Alabama
Song: “Your Father’s Son”
Album: Father’s Son
Release Date: January 18, 2019
Label: Compass Records

In His Words: “Pat Walsh & I wrote ‘Your Father’s Son’ several years ago. We were thinking about our dads and dads in general. I always liked the song, but for some reason put it aside and it sort of got lost. Recently, I was going through some old demos and came across it again. I was really moved by the song, but felt it needed something. So I added a little musical hook and it seemed to do the trick. When I played the song out, everybody loved it — especially my producer, Garry. So later when we did the album, it just seemed the natural title song and idea around which to build the whole project.” — Pierce Pettis

Photo credit: Stacie Huckeba