Tag: premiere

LISTEN: Gretchen Peters, “Leavin’ Kentucky”

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Artist: Gretchen Peters
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Leavin’ Kentucky”
Album: The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury
Release Date: May 15, 2020
Label: Scarlet Letter Records

In Their Words: “This song was one of the first ones of Mickey’s I ever heard, and the line ‘the road down to Nashville’s like crystal and stone’ is what hooked me. That a country song could wring as much poetry out of a line about asphalt still floors me. This is a song about the agony of love — not just heartbreak, but a hurt so deep that you wish you could cut it out of yourself (‘take a .44 pistol to me’). That was something Newbury did better than anyone — pure pain. We wanted it to feel loose and a little ragged, like a track The Band would’ve cut.” — Gretchen Peters

Photo credit: Gina Binkley

LISTEN: Turkeyfoot, “In the Mountains”

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Artist: Turkeyfoot
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Song: “In the Mountains”
Album: Promise of Tomorrow
Release Date: June 5, 2020

In Their Words: “‘In the Mountains’ is a song following the old-school bluegrass vein of ‘cabin songs,’ but with a bit more modern feel to the arrangement and dynamics. The song was written by guitar/dobro player Dave Pailet and arranged collaboratively by the members of Turkeyfoot. An isolated cabin buried deep in the winter snow and the surrounding mountainside serve as the backdrop for a story of loss, mourning, and a burning question, forever unanswered. We hope you enjoy this single and invite you to check out our first full-length album released on June 5th!” — Turkeyfoot

Photo credit: Chris Weist of Woodbelly

LISTEN: Siren Songs, “Edelweiss”

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Artist: Siren Songs
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Song: “Edelweiss”
Album: Siren Songs
Release Date: May 15, 2020 (single); May 29, 2020 (album)

In Their Words: “On Patreon, I have a group of patrons that get to pick songs for me to cover. In particular there’s one family, the Pak family, consisting of four sisters, who are all patrons. One of the sisters asked me to do an arrangement of ‘Edelweiss’ to honor their father who had recently passed away — ‘Edelweiss’ was his favorite song. The arrangement is a tribute to him, to honor his memory; it’s an arrangement with his life in mind. I changed the chord progression and the time signature, making the song a bit more emotional.

“His daughter Suzy also told me that she believes the song may have resonated with him so deeply because when he was young his family was forced to flee what is now North Korea, and they never had the opportunity to return to their homeland — it no longer existed. And his first name was Song — so beautiful. Shortly after I finished the arrangement, Song’s wife Mary passed away as well. It just breaks my heart every time we perform this song, so much so that I can’t talk about it until after we’ve finished singing it. When we decided to make ‘Edelweiss’ a part of Siren Songs we added a beautiful vocal harmony and adjusted the guitar arrangement to support those harmonies.” — Jenn Grinels

“The song is from The Sound of Music, a musical which we both love. Deep down we are both musical theatre geeks! Fun fact: Jenn and I both made our stage debuts as Gretl, the youngest Von Trapp, when we were little kids. We both love the musical theatre canon and find so much inspiration in theatre music.” — Merideth Kaye Clark

Photo credit: Chelsea Donoho

WATCH: Anya Hinkle, “Road of the Winds”

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Artist: Anya Hinkle
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Road of the Winds”
Label: Organic Records

In Their Words: “We are constantly moving closer toward our own homeland, a place we sense is there, somewhere, if we can just pay attention and listen closely to our inner voice. It takes tremendous courage and faith to believe that we can grow to become the person we were meant to be, doing the work we are meant to be doing. We are embarking on a great journey with each sunrise, with each day we are alive. This song helps me feel free to move ahead in new directions with boldness and conviction even though I don’t exactly know where it will all lead. But once you leave the shore you are committed to the journey – there is no turning back.” — Anya Hinkle

Photo credit: Rose Kaz

LISTEN: Colebrook Road, “All You Need To Know (For MJW)”

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Artist: Colebrook Road
Hometown: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Song: “All You Need To Know (For MJW)”
Album: All You Need To Know
Release Date: May 12, 2020 (Single)
Label: Mountain Fever Records

In Their Words: “I wrote this song last summer while I was sitting on a cooler at a bluegrass festival. It was the day before the funeral service for our friend and former banjo player, so the song is in his memory. Recently, it’s taken on a whole new significance with the pandemic we’re going through. Everyone is isolated, all events are cancelled, and there is a lot of fear out there, so we’re in need of human connection more than ever. And that’s the gist of the song, that love between people is all you need to know.” — Jesse Eisenbise, Colebrook Road

Photo courtesy of Mountain Fever Records

LISTEN: Nate Lee, “Love Medicine”

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Artist: Nate Lee
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Love Medicine”
Album: Wings of a Jetliner
Release Date: June 12, 2020
Label: Adverb Records

In Their Words: “’Love Medicine’ embodies all the things I wanted for Wings of a Jetliner — toneful players, exciting rhythm, meaningful lyrics, and songs that are brand new, or presented in a new way. From the beginning stages of planning the album, I wanted the instrumentalists to be the main event, with their solos heavily featured and not just an afterthought. Professor Dan Boner, who produced Wings of a Jetliner, is an accomplished instrumentalist himself and he really helped my vision come alive by creating an environment where everyone was comfortable trying new things and letting their ideas flow. Wyatt Rice, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Ned Luberecki, and Todd Phillips are world-class players, and trading solos with them was thrilling!

“My dear friend Chris Sanders, who wrote ‘Love Medicine,’ has a masterful grasp of chordal harmony and dissonance that perfectly supports the song’s message about addiction. Her harmonic choices, influenced by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, offer a perfect tonal palette for improvisation. Although ‘Love Medicine’ was written about addiction, the lyrics resonate with people who are in all kinds of tough situations. The first line is especially resonant during this time of social distancing: ‘Draw the line, close the door, ain’t gonna cross that threshold no more.'” — Nate Lee

Photo credit: Scott Simontacchi

LISTEN: Julian Taylor, “Love Enough”

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Artist: Julian Taylor
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Song: “Love Enough”
Album: The Ridge
Release Date: May 8, 2020 (single); June 19, 2020 (album)
Label: Howling Turtle Inc.

In Their Words: “The thing about this song is that melody has lived with me for over a decade, but this one scared me — I never felt like I could get behind it and deliver this song honestly until everything in my world had essentially been taken away from me. The lyrics were first written by my friend Robert Priest, but I mixed and twisted them around to fit what I truly felt I needed to say on a personal level. We had always talked about it being a breakup song, but ironically it’s not; it’s about being a bit off and then on and then off again.

“I’ve always been a big fan of Los Lobos and The Mavericks and that Tex-Mex feel — it’s so evocative, so restless — and I wanted this song to be live in a room, like a kitchen party. I love that sound — the sound of realness, flawless in all its imperfections. ‘Love Enough’ has that feel because that’s how it was recorded: we all sat really close to one another and gave it our all, live off the floor, two acoustic guitars, and upright bass and congas. It’s authentic and real.” — Julian Taylor

Photo credit: Lisa MacIntosh

LISTEN: Balsam Range, “Richest Man”

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Artist: Balsam Range
Hometown: Haywood County, North Carolina
Song: “Richest Man”
Release Date: May 8, 2020
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “Who has not thought about being the richest man? But what defines being rich? To have a life without regrets is easier said than done. The sacrifices made for gain can seldom be undone. The things lost and those won will only show with time. The old saying ‘You can’t take it with you’ comes to mind when I hear ‘Richest Man’ and the theme resonates throughout the song as it states, ‘We’re all going out the same way that we came in…with nothing. So why in the world are we always worried about nothing, for nothing?’” — Buddy Melton, Balsam Range

Crossroads Label Group · Balsam Range – Richest Man

Photo credit: David Simchock

LISTEN: Zoe & Cloyd, “Where Do You Stand”

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Artist: Zoe & Cloyd
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Where Do You Stand”
Release Date: May 8, 2020
Label: Organic Records

In Their Words: “‘Where Do You Stand’ is a commentary on the state of our national discourse. Often, it’s the farthest ends of the political spectrum that make the news and it seems like inflammatory rhetoric is the only thing that gets heard these days. I’d like for us to remember that we’re all connected and are more alike than we are different, no matter who tries to convince us otherwise. For us to move forward, we have to find common ground on which to build a path toward a sustainable future.” — John Cloyd Miller

Crossroads Label Group · Zoe & Cloyd – Where Do You Stand

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

LISTEN: Chelsea Williams, “Cornerstone”

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Artist: Chelsea Williams
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Cornerstone”
Album: Beautiful & Strange
Release Date: May 8, 2020
Label: Blue Élan Records

In Their Words: “Not all of my songs are heartache and drinking songs… just most of them. ‘Cornerstone’ is a real shift from this, it’s more of a ‘heartache gone wrong’ song. It tells the story of a girl who is used to being dealt all the wrong cards. When her luck changes she must learn to trust the universe and trust the new happiness she’s found.” — Chelsea Williams

Photo credit: Piper Ferguson