Tag: premiere

WATCH: Jeremy Squires, “Fade”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Jeremy Squires
Hometown: New Bern, North Carolina
Song: “Fade”
Album: UNRAVEL
Release Date: July 30, 2021
Label: Blackbird Record Label

In Their Words: “‘Fade’ is about facing yourself and revisiting memories and/or demons and coming to terms with them. There were so many things going through my head when I wrote this song. My grandmother had passed and my life was changing and the people around me were changing and spiraling. I was faced with difficult life choices I had to make and this song was an outlet.

“The video for ‘Fade’ was filmed at various locations in my hometown and in a small neighboring town. I filmed multiple scenes in my granny’s old home that she left to me. I feel the lyrics reflect the imagery in the video. I filmed a specific scene as I burned a life’s worth of papers and collected memories outside in her yard one night with an old crutch and it was cathartic. ‘Fade’ is one of my favorite videos and I feel that it is one of the best songs on the album. It is definitely one that I am connected to.” — Jeremy Squires

Photo credit: Shelley Ann Squires

WATCH: Mason Via, “Big City”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Mason Via
Hometown: Danbury, North Carolina
Song: “Big City”
Release Date: June 11, 2021
Label: Mountain Fever Records

In Their Words: “‘Big City’ is a song that I wrote as a playful fantasy, but it turned into something bigger, a personal hillbilly mantra of sorts. This past year has brought a lot of big changes in my life, from landing a top 40 placement on American Idol, joining the legendary Old Crow Medicine Show, to signing a record deal with Mountain Fever Records. ‘Big City’ is the first single off of my upcoming debut album with the label. The melody to this song is so catchy. I’ve been singing it for a while now, but it still gets stuck in my head, and I reckon that’s a good thing. The track features a couple notable artists from other prominent bands. Nick Goad of Sideline sang harmony on the track. Alex Genova (banjo) and Tommy Maher (Dobro) of Fireside Collective also lent their skills to the song.” — Mason Via

Photo credit: Shana Lee Photography

LISTEN: Beta Radio, “I Need My Prayers”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Beta Radio
Hometown: Wilmington, North Carolina
Song: “I Need My Prayers”
Album: Year of Love
Release Date: June 11, 2021
Label: Nettwerk Music Group

In Their Words: “It usually takes us long stretches of time to write songs, we normally feel great if we can write and record a whole record in a year, so ‘I Need My Prayers’ was a real surprise when it came about. When writing, Brent and I will usually share audio files back and forth, so he sent me a lyric-less guitar demo… I listened to it once, and then played it again while recording on my phone, and then the song lyrics just came out. I think it was all done within 15 minutes maybe. I was in a mental and spiritual place of needing something to hold onto, I felt like I had lost all my footing in the world and didn’t know where to turn. And a lot of personal things felt like they were falling apart. So… I guess I just needed my prayers.” — Benjamin Mabry, Beta Radio

Photo credit: Amanda Holloman

WATCH: Eliza Gilkyson & Lynn Miles, “What If We”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Eliza Gilkyson & Lynn Miles
Hometown: Eliza: Taos, New Mexico; Lynn: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Song: “What If We” from Folk Alliance‘s Artists In (Their) Residences program
Release Date: June 14, 2021

In Their Words: “When Aengus Finnan first approached me about a co-write I was leaning towards not doing it due to my sort of Covid Contraction State of Being last year, but as soon as he suggested Lynn Miles as my co-writer all the doors and windows swung wide open. I am such a fan of Lynn’s music and she also happens to be a great friend. The whole process was as easy and as fun as I imagined it could be. Lynn had a song idea already percolating so she sent me some rough thoughts and it totally triggered ideas from me, so we just traded back and forth and I think gave each other space to do our thing and respect during the process. She also challenged me on some lyrics at one point and I just went with her thoughts and actually learned something different in my writing process. Never too old to learn something new! So it was a positive experience all around and I look forward to playing the song out at some point.” — Eliza Gilkyson

“Eliza is one of my songwriter heroes so I’m thrilled that we wrote this song together!” — Lynn Miles

 

WATCH: Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, “Living Left to Do”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers
Hometown: Xenia, Ohio
Song: “Living Left to Do”
Album: Somewhere Beyond the Blue
Single Release Date: June 4, 2021
Label: Billy Blue Records

In Their Words: “We’re very thankful to have plenty of new music and a good tour schedule for 2021. But we’re most encouraged with the renewed opportunity to reunite with friends and loved ones we’ve missed so deeply, and to be back together doing what we love. ‘Living Left to Do’ was written by Conrad Fisher and is about enjoying our calling, celebrating God’s goodness, and the blessed assurance of life eternal. We’re ready to live, love, laugh and have a lot more to do!” — Joe Mullins

Photo credit: Kim Brantley

LISTEN: Hannah Juanita, “Hard Hearted Woman”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Hannah Juanita
Hometown: Chattanooga, Tennessee
Song: “Hard Hearted Woman”
Album: Hardliner
Release Date: June 11, 2021

In Their Words: “Well, I’m glad I don’t feel like a ‘Hard Hearted Woman’ anymore! But that is how I felt coming out of my last relationship. Turning 30, moving back to Tennessee, and leaving the life I had built out West behind definitely had me feeling alone… but it was the good kind of alone. I may have felt hardened to love, but I was so ready and excited to do my own thing and make music. I remember well the night I wrote this song. All my friends were out honky-tonkin’ around Nashville, but I felt heavy-hearted and went home because it was time to sit down with my guitar and get this song written. It had been rolling around in my head for too long.” — Hannah Juanita

Photo credit: Jody Domingue

WATCH: The Lovestruck Balladeers, “Rivka Road Rag”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Lovestruck Balladeers
Hometown: New York, Detroit, Chicago
Song: “Rivka Road Rag”
Album: The Lovestruck Balladeers

In Their Words: “We formed a strong bond working with filmmaker Horatio Baltz on our first two videos, which we shot in-person long before the pandemic. Last year, during lockdown, we started talking about a third collaboration. However, given the circumstances, it wasn’t obvious how we would go about it. We were spread out from coast to coast and from Canada down to Mexico, so the idea of a traditional shoot was off the table. After a fresh listen to the album, Horatio pitched us an idea for one of the band’s original compositions, Dalton Ridenhour’s ‘Rivka Road Rag.’ We readily agreed. Months later, when we could sit back and enjoy the final cut, we were all thoroughly charmed. With his artistry, Horatio once again had added a dimension to our music beyond what we’d envisioned ourselves.” — Jacob Sanders, The Lovestruck Balladeers

Photo credit: Aidan Grant

WATCH: Michigan Rattlers, “The Storm”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Michigan Rattlers
Hometown: Petoskey, Michigan
Song: “The Storm”
Album: That Kind of Life
Release Date: May 19, 2021
Label: Massasauga Records

In Their Words: “‘The Storm’ was the first song written for this new record, and in a lot of ways it set the tone for the songs that would follow. The storm is a beginning. I wanted to write about that feeling of encountering something that you know will change you forever. ‘It’s hard not to think I was born right there’ is the touchstone line of the song for me. There’s everything before and there’s everything after. As far as the construction of the song, this is a good example of how we were much more deliberate in our approach to arranging and recording this record. The songs on Evergreen are very loosely arranged and we approached those songs in the studio as we had been playing them live. On That Kind of Life, we spent considerable time on arranging and writing our parts. We never played these songs live before recording them which gave us freedom and the ability to really craft these songs in the studio.

“When it came to the video, we wanted to showcase a relationship, but not give away the whole story. We wanted to show snapshots of two people coming together and coming apart, the ebb and flow of a relationship. It feels like you’re waiting for something happen. You’re waiting for that storm to come. And I think when you hear or read the words ‘the storm’ you’re anticipating something bad will happen. But we approached the storm as love itself. Love is everything at once and that’s how I thought of the storm when writing the song and how we wanted to interpret it in the video. The video was directed by Allyson Bernstein, shot by Andrew Gulledge, and assisted by Ramie Cronkhite. It was the first project we did after the height of COVID and was a real collaborative effort.” — Graham Young, Michigan Rattlers

Photo credit: Andrew Gulledge

LISTEN: Loose Cattle, “He’s Old, She’s High”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Loose Cattle
Hometown: New Orleans / New York City
Song: “He’s Old, She’s High”
Album: Heavy Lifting
Release Date: June 4, 2021
Label: Low Heat Records

In Their Words: “It’s great when your friend gets you. But when the friend who gets you is also one of New Orleans’ most celebrated songwriters, can he maybe get you too well? When Loose Cattle’s longtime friend Paul Sanchez (multiple time NOLA songwriter of the year and ex-Cowboy Mouth) told us he’d written a song for the band, we pondered that for half a second. But by the end of the first listen, we threw our arms around him and the song, and turned it into something that we hope would make Porter & Dolly, Johnny & June and John Doe & Exene all equally proud. Even though Kimberly and Michael stopped being a couple years ago, they’re still odd. This one is for all the perfectly mismatched people out there.” — Loose Cattle

Photo credit: Zach Smith

WATCH: Bendigo Fletcher, “Sugar in the Creek” (Blackacre Barn Session)

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Bendigo Fletcher
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Song: “Sugar in the Creek” (Blackacre Barn Session)
Album: Fits of Laughter
Release Date: August 13, 2021
Label: Elektra Records

In Their Words: “Playing ‘Sugar in the Creek’ live feels like floating compared to some of our other songs that probably require more attention to recreate. There are a few key and tempo fluctuations that we sort of arrive at and navigate as the song continues, and we just have to rely on staying in the moment together to hit those transitions naturally. Looking back, I think it was written under the spell of a band called Relatively Clean Rivers, whose only known album consists of those types of songs that just kind of start and end before you remember again that you’re in a human body.” — Ryan Anderson, Bendigo Fletcher

Photo credit: Jimmy Fontaine