Tag: premiere

WATCH: Mile Twelve, “Long Done Gone”

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Artist: Mile Twelve
Hometown: Boston, Masschusetts
Song: “Long Done Gone”

In Their Words: “Back in February we had a few days off the road and decided to spend one of them in Brooklyn, New York, playing music and making videos with some friends. We called up Michael Daves, Jacob Jolliff, and Tony Trischka and ended up having this epic afternoon of arranging a few bluegrass standards for eight people to jam on. Things got pretty wacky, including this video, which is a mashup of the bluegrass song ‘Long Gone’ and the fiddle tune ‘Done Gone.’ We decided to try this medley at first because we thought it would be funny but it turned out they’re both in the key of Bb and it ended up working great. Hope you enjoy!” — Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Mile Twelve

Photo credit: Kaitlyn Raitz

WATCH: The Slocan Ramblers, “New Morning”

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Artist: The Slocan Ramblers
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Song: “New Morning”
Album: Queen City Jubilee
Label: SloMusic

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘New Morning’ right after our second album Coffee Creek came out, and it came to me pretty quick. There’s this funny period after you put out an album — a moment of calm and then the crashing realization that it’s on to the next one. It’s that push to get back to work that got me writing again, and this song came out first. I was listening to Béla Fleck’s Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 2 endlessly around that time, so maybe you can find some bits of inspiration in there. Big thanks to Trent Freeman (check out his awesome band The Fretless) for the videography.” — Adrian Gross, The Slocan Ramblers

Photo credit: Jen Squires

LISTEN: Heather Anne Lomax, “Heart Don’t Lie”

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Artist: Heather Anne Lomax
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Heart Don’t Lie”
Album: All This Time
Release Date: May 1, 2020

In Their Words: “This is a song about love and longing. It is a song of yearning and of the unseen ties that bind two souls, regardless of space and time. It’s about ‘memories, pressed between the pages of of my mind.’ I think I wrote this song in ten to fifteen minutes while up late at night, probably around two or three in the morning.” — Heather Anne Lomax

Photo credit: Neil Kremer

LISTEN: James Hyland, “Ghost”

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Artist: James Hyland
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Ghost”
Album: Western
Release Date: May 1, 2020
Label: James Hyland Music

In Their Words: “‘Ghost’ is about how strong the past can influence our emotions that drive us to make the decisions that shape our future. This song is about writing and creating songs that my dead heroes would enjoy. I imagine they’re in the room with me as I’m writing and if the line isn’t good enough for the imaginary people there in my room, how could I possibly keep it and play it for the people who are alive? Every couplet counts. The character in the song is haunted by their dead heroes, whose unwritten songs manifest in the writings of the one they influence.” — James Hyland

Photo credit: Ty Hudgins

LISTEN: Jeff Crosby, “My Mother’s God”

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Artist: Jeff Crosby
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “My Mother’s God”
Album: North Star
Release Date: April 24, 2020

In Their Words: “I wrote this song with Micky Braun in Boston last year and it ended up on the new Micky and The Motorcars album as well. I’ve never been very religious, but my friend Brian in Idaho sent me the line: ‘I should thank my mother’s god’ and it set the theme for the rest of the song. I’d also been hanging on to the chorus line: ‘Throw your heart in the river and hope it sees the ocean someday’ for a while. Micky came up with some really great lines for both verses and helped me round out the chorus. We probably finished the tune in 10 minutes over a bottle of wine. Lyrically it’s one of my favorite tracks on the album. My favorite songs are always the easiest to write it seems.” — Jeff Crosby

Photo credit: Scott Simontacchi

LISTEN: Christina Courtin, “Life So Far”

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Artist: Christina Courtin
Hometown: Buffalo, New York
Song: “Life So Far”
Album: Situation Station
Release Date: April 10, 2020
Label: In a Circle Records

In Their Words: “‘Life So Far’ comes from a place of throwing your hands up in the air and saying, ‘I’ve have enough’ and making things up as you go. There is a lyrical undercurrent of things not ever being good enough, and a musical relentlessness that is not unlike our everyday lives. The lyric, ‘Feelin’ pretty good about life so far’ leaves space for the listener to wonder why it’s only, ‘Pretty good.’ Clearly there are still so many things that are not good, but life goes on with or without all of us. I guess it’s my version of a joke/sarcasm. I suppose I am too young to feel this way, as life has many more twists and turns in store, but it felt good at the time to write a song in this vein.” — Christina Courtin

Photo credit: Austin Nelson

LISTEN: Water Tower, “Fly Around” (Feat. Willie Watson)

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Artist: Water Tower
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Fly Around” (ft. Willie Watson)
Album: Fly Around
Release Date: April 3, 2020 (Single); April 24, 2020 (Album)
Label: Dutch Records

In Their Words: “Recording the track ‘Fly Around’ for our debut album of the same name, we felt like Willie Watson was the best person to help us render a version one of our favorite traditional tunes. Willie has been a strong voice and and an old-time cousin guiding us along on our musical path since we first met him in 2005, on our first tour as The Water Tower Bucket Boys (thank goodness we kicked the bucket). Willie not only has a heart of gold, but he brought us in for a meal that time when we FIRST came to Los Angeles. We felt it was appropriate to ask him to contribute some of his most beloved verses to this old chestnut that has carried us through the roadways of the world.” — Kenny Feinstein, Water Tower

Photo credit: Kenny Feinstein

LISTEN: Dylan McCarthy, “Mosquito”

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Artist: Dylan McCarthy
Hometown: From Boulder, Colorado; currently living in Lyons, Colorado
Song: “Mosquito”
Album: Lost & Found
Release Date: May 1, 2020

In Their Words: “‘Mosquito’ was one of the first tunes I had selected for the project and in many ways it was the catalyst for the whole thing. The tune got its name from the mosquito bite I received while writing the tune on my front porch in Lyons, Colorado. The overall approach to this tune was inspired in part by the opening track of Béla Fleck’s Drive, ‘Whitewater.’ I’ve always loved the way they start off that tune and I wanted to try to capture that energy on ‘Mosquito.’ The track features Eric Wiggs on guitar, Bradley Morse on bass, Sam Armstrong-Zickefoose on banjo, and Justin Hoffenburg on fiddle.” — Dylan McCarthy

Photo credit: Kyle Ussery, Flat Nine Design

LISTEN: Elijah Ocean, “Good Clean Livin'”

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Artist: Elijah Ocean
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Good Clean Livin'”
Album: Blue Jeans & Barstools
Release Date: May 1, 2020

In Their Words: “I wrote this song a few years back while working a casino in Las Vegas. It started from a snippet of a conversation I overheard and ended up being about an addicted gambler who finds salvation through the modern American dream. I originally recorded a version for my barn record, but it didn’t make the cut. So I wound up recycling the pedal steel (played by my good friend Philip Sterk in Nashville) and re-tracking everything else in my home studio in LA. I was basically trying to find some middle ground between The Byrds and Alan Jackson.” — Elijah Ocean

Photo credit: Sean Rosenthal

LISTEN: Max Allard, “Rooster”

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Artist: Max Allard
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Single: “Rooster”
Release Date: April 3, 2020

In Their Words: “My family and I have been keeping chickens in our Chicago backyard for many years. In the past, we’ve only had hens, but in the last round of chickens, we accidentally got a rooster. We named him J.D. Crowe, after the banjo player. He likes to crow, sometimes in the middle of the night. He gets confused in the city, where the line between night and day is sometimes blurry. He’s also skittish and he’s the first one to run in the coop if there’s danger approaching. I don’t think he’s doing a very good job of being a rooster. But he’s definitely entertaining.” — Max Allard

Photo credit: Rachel Allard