Artist:Steve Lewis Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Song: “Tale of Woe” Album:Exit to Mystery Release Date: September 8, 2023 Label: Broken Hip Records
In Their Words: “This song was written while I was in the group King Wilkie and while we did record it, it didn’t fit the winsome vibe of the album at the time. We did pitch it to Levon Helm & co. during the Dirt Farmer era, but they were all set for material. Happily, we have a new (better) recording of a song with a lot of history and a lyric about being distant from the modern fast-paced world – and we can all relate to that.” – Steve Lewis
Artist:Gwen Levey and the Breakdown Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Song: “Barefoot and Pregnant” Album:Not the Girl Next Door EP Release Date: November 3, 2023
In Their Words: “RIP Roe V Wade. That was such a dark day. It’s a very personal issue for me and most women. I was a child who was sexually assaulted. So, everything that’s been happening hit me really hard, especially here in Tennessee, which has the strictest abortion ban. That, even if you’re a child, you can’t get help for anything like that. The song has a serious social commentary, but I wanted it to still be fun so it’s more accessible. You have to be brave to sing that in the south.
“This song is for all the freedom-lovin’, democracy-lovin’, country music-lovin’ people out there who want to help women win back their Reproductive Rights!” – Gwen Levey
Artist:Zander Schloss Hometown: Place of birth is St Louis, Missouri; Hometown is Los Angeles, California Song: “Play Me a Happy Song” Album:California’s Burning Release Date: October 13, 2023 Label: Blind Owl
In Their Words: “These days, it seems the ground beneath us is made of eggshells. One has to be very careful about what they say. I find myself wondering, what happened to ‘you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette?’ If I was a diner, I would serve breakfast all day.” – Zander Schloss
Artist:Katie Curley Hometown: Brooklyn, New York; originally from Home, Washington Song: “Lucky In Love” Album:Penny For My Heartbreak Release Date: September 8, 2023
In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Lucky In Love’ while driving through Kansas with my husband and bandmate, guitarist Brendan Curley. Actually, he was driving, and I was listening to the Rolling Stones on the car stereo and watching the flat roll by. By the time we got to St. Louis, I had everything but the second verse. I’m incredibly honored that Mary Lee Kortes agreed to sing harmonies for this song on the album. Blue Betty, the ’79 baby blue Ford pickup in the video, was a dream to drive and her owners are also lovely people. I borrowed Brendan’s guitar and cowboy hat to add a bit of a magical element to the storyline, and I think it works well with director Michael Bartolomeo’s quirky, cool style.” – Katie Curley
In Their Words: “This song seems to have fallen out of the sky. Tommy and I were really inspired by the show ‘Daisy Jones & the Six.’ It made us want to tap into our rock roots a bit. Tommy wrote the music in his head one night when he was falling asleep. He actually imagined it written out in notation so he would be able to remember it in the morning. When he played it for me, it was just a musical idea, chords and melody. I tweaked it a bit and tried to discern what the chords made me feel so I could find a lyrical direction, which was an interesting process, because usually for me, lyrics always come first. What came out was kind of a battle cry, for all who fight a war with anxiety and depression.
“We know how important it is not to bottle things up, but what happens once we’ve let it out? I think the song is asking if we can process all our feelings in a healthy way and move on, rather than sitting in our sadness. The song ended up being the perfect title track, because not only are we expressing some really vulnerable emotions, we’re also literally ‘letting out’ a lot of previously unreleased songs and pulling back the curtain a bit on mine and Tommy’s story, which has always been at the center of our music, though we have been hesitant to draw attention to it before now. And in giving ourselves the freedom to let it out, we feel we’re being more true to our authentic selves, musically and personally, and it just feels right.” – Noah Wall
In Their Words: “I wrote this song as I was having a reckoning about a sense of stagnation — in my life and personal growth. Nothing was bad, but nothing was great either, and I knew it was time to blow my life up a little and make some space for new things.
“Sonically, we all had The Beatles song ‘Two of Us’ very much in our ears when we were working on the arrangement, and Dominic Billett slipped right into that vision with his drumming. Owen’s dog gets a production credit, as he chose to ring his dog bell right as we were trying to find the perfect sound to complete the chorus. He has been immortalized in the track.” – Libby Weitnauer
Artist:The Handsome Family Hometown: Chicago, Illinois Song: “The Oldest Water” Album:Hollow Release Date: September 8, 2023 Label: Loose Music
In Their Words: “The world’s oldest water resides miles down a Canadian mine. It is 2 billion years old and teeming with life. What better to sing about?” – Rennie Sparks
Artist: Tray Wellington Band Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina Song: “Moon In Motion 1” Release Date: September 1, 2023 Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “I often equate music and nature as one in one, as music is a constant movement that is always progressing forward through time. With this idea in mind, I thought one thing that always moves around us, like music, is the moon. I thought what a better way to progress in my music than channel this idea of continuous movement? That’s where the idea for ‘Moon In Motion 1’ came from, and the song is meant to convey these emotions. This is the first part of a three part movement that will be on my upcoming album.” – Tray Wellington
Artist:Tom Heyman Hometown: San Francisco, California Song: “The Mission Is On Fire” Album:24th Street Blues Release Date: October 6, 2023 Label: Bohemian Neglect Recording Works
In Their Words: “I have lived on the Eastern end of 24th Street in San Francisco’s Mission District around the corner from SF General Hospital for more than 20 years now. I work at a bar near the corner of Mission and 22nd Street and a number of years ago (pre-pandemic), there were a series of devastating fires on Mission Street — two of them practically next door to my workplace, and another about three quarters of a mile south at 29th Street. Fires in a densely-populated city full of attached wooden houses are scary enough, but add in the scarcity of affordable housing, the simmering resentments around the huge influx of tech workers, and the white-hot real estate market and the overall effect was pretty unsettling.
“The phrase, ‘The Mission is on fire’ popped into my head and I knew there was a song there. I chased it down until I thought I had it. Around the time that I wrote it, I had another record coming out that it wasn’t really right for, but I knew that it was going to fit squarely into the group of songs that made up my new record, 24th Street Blues. It seems that San Francisco is in the news often these days and is struggling with all the things that an awful lot of cities are struggling with, but I deeply love my neighborhood – and most days I find it difficult to imagine living anywhere else.” – Tom Heyman
In Their Words: “I couldn’t be more excited to release this brand new one written by my wife Miranda and I. It’s a feel-good song about holding on to the last days of summer with good friends, camping in the mountains, and making everlasting memories with the ones you love. It’s also very special to me, as we recorded it at the late great Steve Gulley’s Pinnacle Studio in Campbell County, Tennessee. Steve was a huge mentor to me as I began getting into the music business, and his engineer/bandmate, Bryan Turner, has since taken over the studio and graciously allowed us to come in and cut this one. It will be the first nationally distributed single recorded there since Steve’s passing in 2020. I hope it brings you back to the mountains and the crisp, late summer air, the songs around a campfire, and the full moon surrounded by stars above. No matter when or where you listen from, I hope Summer Haven will take you into the mountains for a night you’ll never forget.” – Alex Leach
Photo Credit: Miranda Leach
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