Tag: premiere

WATCH: Tristan Scroggins, “Seneca Square Dance”

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Artist: Tristan Scroggins
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Seneca Square Dance”
Album: One-Ring Circus
Release Date: October 15, 2021

In Their Words: “The Seneca are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario. Many were moved to Oklahoma after the War of 1812 which might explain why this tune has been traced to the Southwestern Missouri/Oklahoma area. I learned this tune from Molly Tuttle and we would play it together a lot. Its simple melody makes it easy to experiment with different harmonies and picking techniques. I had already experimented with a solo arrangement of this tune for mandolin, but when I started playing tenor banjo I was really excited about the possibilities that the extra sustain of the banjo presented. This particular arrangement utilizes crosspicking techniques to present melody and rhythm at the same time similar to three-finger banjo playing.” — Tristan Scroggins

Photo credit: Natia Cinco

LISTEN: Carolyn Wonderland, “Fortunate Few”

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Artist: Carolyn Wonderland
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Fortunate Few”
Album: Tempting Fate
Release Date: October 8, 2021
Label: Alligator Records

In Their Words: “Well, sometimes we write ourselves advice we don’t take for a while, don’t we? I started writing ‘Fortunate Few’ one hard, bleary-eyed morning on the road while holding my head in one hand and trying to count my blessings on the fingers of the other. It originally had a more John Prine feel to it (think: ‘In Spite of Ourselves’), but I thought better of trying to emulate the master in a form so closely related to that chord structure and started banging away on some acoustic blues. The title made me realize I also must have been listening to a lot of Delbert McClinton the night before. That is never a bad thing!” — Carolyn Wonderland

Photo credit: Ismael Quintanilla

LISTEN: Zoe & Cloyd, “Rebuild”

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Artist: Zoe & Cloyd
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Rebuild”
Album: Rebuild
Release Date: October 8, 2021
Label: Organic Records

In Their Words: “‘Rebuild’ is a song that didn’t start out as an album title track. Our bandmate Bennett Sullivan approached me with a song idea about interpersonal turmoil and resolution. The song became ‘Rebuild’ and I quickly realized that this was an overarching theme running through this entire collection of songs. The pandemic has touched us all in some way. Relationships have been strained, and in some cases, pushed to the breaking point. We’ve lost loved ones. We’ve been tasked with repairing ourselves and our connections. We all have to rebuild.” — John Cloyd Miller, Zoe & Cloyd

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

LISTEN: The Wild Feathers, “Get Out of My Own Way”

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Artist: The Wild Feathers
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Get Out Of My Own Way”
Album: Alvarado
Release Date: October 8, 2021
Label: New West Records

In Their Words: “‘Get Out of My Own Way’ is one of those last-minute songs that somehow makes it on the record. We write a lot and there’s just no telling how or why a song will make the final cut. It’s very personal to me and my own struggle to not make things so hard on myself. Sometimes our insecurities and fears get in the way of who we really are and writing this song was me realizing that. It’s OK to have these feelings, but I’m learning to let things go and get out of the way.” — Ricky Young, The Wild Feathers

Photo credit: Alex Justice

WATCH: Unspoken Tradition, “Irons in the Fire”

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Artist: Unspoken Tradition
Hometown: Cherryville, North Carolina
Song: “Irons in the Fire”
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “When Unspoken Tradition first started playing in an organized way, we came up with the slogan, ‘Working Class Bluegrass.’ We’ve all held full-time jobs the whole time we’ve been together and I think we’re all proud to be workers, providers, and family men. I also think it means we can all relate well to the message of ‘Irons in the Fire.’ To me, this song is about trying to find solace in the grind; being able to separate the headaches that come with hard work from the purpose and product it provides. This song reminds me of all the hard-working men and women in my family who came before me, who directly or indirectly affected my quality of life. Every time we perform this song, I can see their faces. Songwriters Aaron Bibelhauser and Steve Guenthner really outdid themselves with this song and I’m thankful we had an opportunity to record it. We shot the video in a blacksmith shop on the campus of Warren Wilson College. It was hot and the whole place looked, smelled, and felt like hard work, if work ever had those characteristics. It was the perfect spot to capture the theme of ‘Irons in the Fire’ and the energy there made us all dig into the recording process even more.” — Audie McGinnis, Unspoken Tradition (vocalist and guitarist)

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

WATCH: The Royal Hounds, “Pickin’ in the Graveyard”

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Artist name: The Royal Hounds
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Pickin’ in the Graveyard”
Album: Whole Lot of Nothin’
Release Date: October 15, 2021

In Their Words: “When I was learning to play bass, I used to go to a bluegrass festival called Old Timer’s Day. It was next to a graveyard. There were so many pickers that many groups would spill over into the graveyard and have pickin’ circles out there. I always loved the idea for a song called ‘Pickin’ in the Graveyard.’ Up the street from where I live is Spring Hill Cemetery. Lots of notables are buried there: Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, Floyd Cramer, Kitty Wells, Hank Snow, and my favorite, John Hartford. I just love the notion that the ghosts of the musicians in this graveyard come out at night and have a grand pickin’ party. The final verse is kind of an homage to John Hartford. In the song, I say, ‘Lower me down in a Batman cloak/ we’ll all ride to heaven in a river boat.’ This is a reference to the fact that Hartford was accidentally buried in a Batman cloak and he had a lifelong fascination with river boats. He even had a license to sail them.” — Scott Hinds, The Royal Hounds

Photo credit: Bill Foster

LISTEN: Patrick Dethlefs, “If You Listen”

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Artist: Patrick Dethlefs
Hometown: Kittredge, Colorado
Song: “If You Listen”
Album: If You Listen
Release Date: October 1, 2021

In Their Words: “This song explores the idea of still feeling connected to loved ones who have passed on. Feeling their presence even though they are no longer physically here. Maybe even asking the question, ‘Is this person with me now more than they have ever been?’ This theme carries on throughout the rest of the record but on this song particularly that connection feels truly realized and known.” — Patrick Dethlefs

Photo credit: Brooke Svitak

LISTEN: Haunted Like Human, “Ohio”

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Artist: Haunted Like Human
Hometown: Nashville, TN; originally Fayetteville, Georgia (Dale Chapman) and Milton-Freewater, Oregon (Cody Clark)
Song: “Ohio”
Album: Tall Tales & Fables
Release Date: October 15, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Ohio’ is a special song for us. It started in the fall of 2018 when we were touring off of our EP Folklore and stopped to spend time with some of Cody’s family in Ohio. In chatting with his grandmother, she was telling the story of falling in love with her husband when he was in her native South Carolina, and how when she was pregnant he sent her up to Ohio to live with his family while he worked and sent money back. Things kept keeping him in South Carolina and she said offhand, ‘You know, he was just trying to get back to Ohio.’ I remember in that moment thinking that there was a song in that one statement and I sat with it for about a year until we really started writing again for this record. The end result is a story told through letters back home of a man wanting to do right by his family while also wanting to get back home to them.” — Dale Chapman, Haunted Like Human

Photo credit: Caroline Voisine

LISTEN: Moot Davis, “Hey Hey”

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Artist: Moot Davis
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Hey Hey”
Album: Seven Cities of Gold
Release Date: October 22, 2021
Label: Boot Knife Records

In Their Words: “I wrote this song in Nashville in 2002 just before I got signed to Pete Anderson’s Little Dog Records label. It’s a song that I’ve had in my back pocket for a long time, but when I was gathering tunes for this album I took it back out. The song was pretty close to being done, but the chorus needed to be reworked. My girlfriend Katie actually came up with the chorus while she was busy painting one of the large pictures that hangs in our little house.

“The making of the Seven Cities of Gold album was the most fun I’ve ever had in the studio and I think it really comes across on tracks like ‘Hey Hey.’ I was making music with my friends who I’ve known and worked with for years, with no pressure or financial constraints. We recorded it at my drummer Blake Oswald’s home studio and it was very relaxed and heavy on the vodka. I think we were all shocked when it turned out so well, because it was the first time we had ever produced anything on our own. Along with Oswald and myself, we had our past tour manager and studio engineer, Jody Sappington, help us produce and play bass. My longtime guitarist Bill Corvino really gave the album some sharp teeth with his playing while Skip Edwards and Gary Morse added beautiful parts on B3 and pedal steel. Our buddy Al Backstrom (Angela’s husband) did an awesome job mixing the album and laying down some killer harmonies.

“Sometimes projects just come together and it would be really hard to recreate it at any other time. We decided to put the album out now because we are already starting pre-production on the next album, so we felt it was time to get it out of the gate and share it. It’s hard to move forward with a brand new project until the current one is released. Like bullets in a sonic gun, baby!” — Moot Davis

Photo credit: David McClister

LISTEN: Madeline Hawthorne, “Riverbank” (Feat. Mimi Naja)

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Artist: Madeline Hawthorne
Hometown: Bozeman, Montana
Song: “Riverbank” (featuring Mimi Naja)
Album: Boots
Release Date: October 1, 2021

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Riverbank’ after my first overnight rafting trip down the Smith River in Montana. This was early on in the pandemic, May of 2020. I was in a dark place emotionally after having to cancel my tour and say goodbye to bandmates, who decided to move on from music to pursue other careers. This river trip brought me back to life and that’s when I decided to write my entire album, Boots. I hold a very special place in my heart for our rivers. They foster beautiful and healthy ecosystems that open your heart and your mind. Floating down a river allows us to witness a part of this earth untainted, serene and powerful. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to explore rivers in the West and I hope that this song brings listeners the feeling that I have when I’m in my happy place hanging out on the Yellowstone River or the beautiful Salmon River in Idaho. There’s just nothing like floating down the line with the one you love, cold beer in hand, warm sun on your skin and good tunes in the background — pure bliss.” — Madeline Hawthorne

Photo credit: Dan Bradner