Tag: premiere

LISTEN: The 502s, “Leading Lady”

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Artist: The 502s
Hometown: Orlando, Florida
Song: “Leading Lady”
Album: Could It Get Better Than This
Release Date: October 15, 2021

In Their Words: “One day I showed up to rehearsal with a new voice memo called ‘I.D.N.F.S’ which stood for ‘Incredibly Dope New Fast Song.’ The idea behind the song was to make something everyone at our live shows would be able to sing along to while dancing with us. The lyrics are about the feelings that love gives you. The nerves-in-the-belly, heart-skipping-a-beat kind of stuff. It’s also about how years of worry can melt away in a minute when you meet the right person. Being in love makes you the stars of your own movie. We’re big believers in following your heart as that’s how you get the best things out of life.” — Ed Isola, The 502s

Photo credit: Gabriel Lugo

LISTEN: Sweetlove, “Things I Didn’t Say”

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Artist: Sweetlove
Hometown: Currently based in Los Angeles. Originally from Simi Valley, California
Song: “Things I Didn’t Say”
Album: Goodnight, Lover
Release Date: March 26, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Things I Didn’t Say’ is a very personal song for me, full of ache, and when I wrote it I was reeling after the suicide of a longtime love of mine, and the only thing that brought me some comfort was writing songs. I wrote it on a rainy day in Silver Lake with the wonderful Stolar and Evangelia. Evangelia came in with the opening line, ‘I took off my makeup, and took on the madness,’ and it really resonated with me, so we wrote this mournful, stripped-down song about all of the things you can’t say anymore to the person you’ve lost, and how you struggle for a place to put those things for a long time. The end of the song has this beautiful outro piece, almost like a wave of love to send David off, into a place where he would always be at peace, and I will be forever comforted by the fact that his spirit is free, and that I was fortunate enough to know him and love him my whole life. If you are reading this piece and are struggling and in despair, I beg of you to hold on, to reach out, to get help — I promise you there is more love around you than you know, more hope than your pain lets you see.” — Sweetlove

Photo credit: Anna Azarov

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WATCH: DL Rossi, “Tumbling”

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Artist: DL Rossi
Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Song: “Tumbling”
Album: Lonesome Kind
Release Date: April 16, 2021

In Their Words: “It was great to work with Jax Anderson on the music video for ‘Tumbling.’ We wanted to create a feeling of youth and innocence while introducing the harsher realities of life. ‘Tumbling’ is a song about realizing traditional norms don’t work out for all of us, but we still have a place in this world and can still find happiness that works for us. There is a specific and beautiful journey for each individual, and while we can’t ‘opt out’ of the hurtful experiences and memories, we can share our experiences and hopefully encourage and support each other. That’s what I hope people take away from this tune and the music video.” — DL Rossi

Photo credit: Rachel Hurley

WATCH: CeeLo Green, “Slow Down” (Live From Easy Eye Sound Studio)

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Artist: CeeLo Green
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Song: “Slow Down”
Album: CeeLo Green… Is Thomas Callaway
Label: BMG / Easy Eye Sound

In Their Words: “The song ‘Slow Down’ is ironic because it actually speeds up the process, pulling you closer to the climatic heights of this heartfelt album and the consumer just continues to soar from there. Recording this video with Dan was like experiencing déjà vu… surreal and exciting. To be able to get that feeling working with him on the album and then reliving it to record this live version was amazing. This album was just a thought and we turned it into a full body of work. From start to finish, to express ourselves the way we did writing this song… it was like an out of body experience.”” — CeeLo Green

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

LISTEN: Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass, “Date With an Angel”

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Artist: Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass
Hometown: Landenberg, Pennsylvania
Song: “Date With an Angel”
Album: Bluegrass Troubadour
Release Date: April 23, 2021
Label: Pinecastle Records

In Their Words: “When I heard ‘Date With an Angel’ for the first time, I knew I wanted to record it. Great story songs like this have become synonymous with bluegrass music, because folks can associate the struggles and yearnings in the lyrics to their own lives. I hope you will enjoy this song as much as we do.” — Danny Paisley

Photo courtesy of Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass

LISTEN: Aaron Burdett, “Arlo”

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Artist: Aaron Burdett
Hometown: Saluda, North Carolina
Song: “Arlo”
Release Date: March 19, 2021
Label: Organic Records

In Their Words: “Years ago I used to drive down to play the open mic night at a place called Eddie’s Attic in Georgia. It was a weekly event and I’d go down every six weeks or so. I’d work on my chops and mingle with other writers in one of the premier songwriter venues in the Southeast. Among the semi-regular performers those evenings was a songwriter named Arlo, and although we haven’t seen each other in person for probably 15 years we’ve kept in touch and still talk every week or so. We wax poetic about music and songs and audio gear and guitars or any number of oddball subjects.

“He’s not exactly the character in this song, but he is a character in his own right. Almost every line in the song ‘Arlo’ is something he said to me directly, verbatim. I’ve twisted the meaning and implications of the phrases to suit my vision for the narrator in the song, but the words more or less came from real life, from a real live Arlo, over the past 10 years. We’d talk and afterwards some sentence he said would stick with me so I’d write it down on the ‘Arlo’ sheet. Eventually this song fell out of that collection of phrases and snippets of conversations. Goes to show that you should be careful when you’re being clever around a songwriter, you may hear something you recognize in the next draft.” — Aaron Burdett

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

LISTEN: Will Orchard, “Rita”

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Artist: Will Orchard
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Rita”
Album: I Reached My Hand Out
Release Date: March 18, 2021
Label: Better Company

In Their Words: “‘Rita’ is a song about the blurred lines between attraction that’s real and long-lasting, and attraction that’s intense and fleeting. To me, it’s about lacking trust in my own impulses, and constantly questioning if those feelings are valid. I wrote this song while on tour on two separate occasions about a year apart, and the distance between those two moments really helped me put what I was feeling in perspective. The contributions of Allen, Jess, James, and Miles really helped bring this song to life and create the dark and the anxious landscape of those emotions.” — Will Orchard

Photo credit: Tim Ryan

LISTEN: Andy Leftwich, “Through the East Gate”

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Artist: Andy Leftwich
Hometown: Carthage, Tennessee
Song: “Through the East Gate”
Release Date: March 19, 2021
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “‘Through the East Gate’ is a tune I wrote with the thought in mind of combining old-style fiddling with the new style of fiddlers that we hear today. I’ve always loved old traditional fiddling, and I wanted to somehow capture both the feel of the old style and combine it with the exciting licks and melodies that the newer style brings. This song reminds me of friends and family coming together to play music and to have a great time! I was so honored to have the legendary Mark Schatz join me on bass and clawhammer banjo. After we cut the track, we couldn’t resist recording a track of him dancing to this one!” — Andy Leftwich

Photo credit: Erick Anderson

WATCH: Tommy Emmanuel, “Flatt Did It” (with Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley)

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Artist: Tommy Emmanuel with Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Flatt Did It”
Album: Accomplice Series Volume 1 With Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley EP
Release Date: May 7, 2021
Label: CGP Sounds

In Their Words: “My feelings about the sessions are they were very spontaneous, and in fact, I suggested ‘Flatt Did It’ and ‘Copper Kettle’ as pieces on the day we recorded them. That’s how it came about. It was very spontaneous. ‘Flatt Did It’ is a tribute to Lester Flatt and some of his classic kind of licks. We had the film crew in there for the day and they just rolled the cameras. We actually just played and ignored them almost.” — Tommy Emmanuel

“Well, it’s always great to work with Tommy. He’s such a great artist, and such a great person. There are always a lot of sparks flying when we play together, and all three of us are into lots of different musical genres, so that’s always fun to explore different musical territories when we get together. This song comes from an album that Chet Atkins did with Doc Watson. I love to hear Tommy and Trey play together. There’s a great respect between the two of them. They are both so brilliant. It’s great to hear them feeding off each other. And this song is just the perfect vehicle for a Dobro, so I’m enjoying the whole thing!” — Rob Ickes

“Yeah, this one was Tommy’s idea, and it’s a tune from the Doc Watson and Chet Atkins duo record. Rob and I both have a bluegrass background, and this song was written with the great bluegrass icon Lester Flatt in mind. (Hence the title.) It really was a natural fit and recording it with Tommy was so much fun! Getting to pick with Tommy and Rob any time is always a blast! Working in the studio with Tommy was so much fun, which I think is evident throughout this EP. The great vibe in the studio that day is prominent in the recordings. It was really just the three of us hanging out and playing tunes…what could be more fun?” — Trey Hensley

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

LISTEN: Claire Kelly, “Sitting Still”

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Artist: Claire Kelly
Hometown: Cary, Illinois; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Sitting Still”
Album: The Scenic Route
Release Date: March 19, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Sitting Still’ was the first song I wrote when the world came to a screeching halt in March of 2020. When the pandemic hit, I hid out with a few Nashville friends on a farmhouse in Tullahoma, Tennessee, to wait out the storm so to speak. We took the days easy out there on the farm: fishing, reading, writing, driving the old Ford truck around the property. Even though our tours had been cancelled and jobs had been lost, we tried to embrace the gift of time we’d be given and find some peace in slowing down.” — Claire Kelly

Photo credit: Jorie Struck