Tag: premiere

LISTEN: Alicia Viani, “Tomten Farm”

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Artist: Alicia Viani
Hometown: Bend, Oregon
Song: “Tomten Farm”
Album: Alicia Viani
Release Date: April 3, 2020

In Their Words: “I was sitting in my living room on a cold winter morning in Bend with the barely-warm sunlight shining through the windows. It was a home I would soon lose following the breakup with a partner. I didn’t know it at the time but I had a strong intuitive despairing sense about our future as a couple. My partner, a close friend, and I were sitting there in the sunlight and it was a happy peaceful morning, which was becoming rarer.

“I was noodling in the background on my guitar and my friend was talking to my partner about memories from a summer on a farm in Telluride. Her descriptions and imagery were beautiful to me and I just started writing this song live based on the words coming out of her mouth about her time there. Threading the imagery together ‘North of Telluride,’ ‘sunflower mesa,’ ‘the well ran dry.’ I’ve never been to Tomten Farm. I’ve spent a lot of time in Telluride, so I already had a connection to the place. I think the song was sort of an escape fantasy during a difficult, dark time. I took artistic ownership over her story!

“When we did separate, losing him, the home, and my sense of family left me reeling from abrupt changes in day-to-day reality but also reeling from the gut punch of realizing my dreams we worked together on were gone too. What did I believe in building now? Navigating these losses put me at a crossroads. Do I let this devour me? Or do I attempt to stay open to changes and get rocked and hopefully find new solid ground and direction? This song came from my attempt to do the latter. I wrote it over time as I found my way again, found joy in a relationship again with a new lover, and pieced my dreams back together again based on my own desires and beliefs about how I wanted to live. — Alicia Viani

Photo credit: Laura Schneider

LISTEN: Gabe Lee, “Piece of Your Heart”

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Artist: Gabe Lee
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Piece of Your Heart”
Album: Honky Tonk Hell
Release Date: March 13, 2020
Label: Torrez Music Group

In Their Words: “‘Piece of Your Heart’ is a painfully honest goodbye song. The character is backhandedly apologizing to an ex-love, trying to play off a broken heart as something you can simply pawn away. He makes lists of memories, places, and mementos of their relationship serving as pieces of the heartbreak that need to be thrown out in order for them to move on. In the second verse, the ex-lover deals her own way through various forms of coping, and by the third verse the narrator finds himself almost missing what they once had, saying, ‘And I thought you should know that I’ve stitched up my soul and framed it in gold on the wall, so when the train come to town and they tear this place down there’ll be something still left to hang on.’ But sometimes you just have to sell the farm and start over.” — Gabe Lee

Photo credit: Brooke Stevens

WATCH: Eliza Gilkyson, “Beautiful World of Mine”

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Artist: Eliza Gilkyson
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Beautiful World of Mine”
Album: 2020
Release Date: April 10, 2020
Label: Red House Records

In Their Words: “I wrote this song in Taos, New Mexico just looking out the window of my home there. My son Cisco, who produced the lyric video, wanted to make it seem like a day walking in the mountains, from sunrise to sunset. I think when you feel deeply connected to the natural world then you also become protective of it and willing to fight for it. This song and the video are meant to inspire that commitment to care for and protect our beautiful world.” — Eliza Gilkyson

Photo credit: Rodney Burseil

WATCH: Smooth Hound Smith, “Crazy Over You” (Live at Ten Four)

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Artist: Smooth Hound Smith (feat. Connor Vance from Dustbowl Revival)
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Crazy Over You” (Live at Ten Four)

In Their Words: “‘Crazy Over You’ is pretty guileless in its meaning, and remains one of the only true-blue love songs I’ve ever written (no cheeky humor or heartbreak in this one, folks). Over the years it’s been used many times as a first dance song at weddings, and it even got licensed for an adorable love scene in MTV’s The Real World a while back. These days, when we play it in a live setting, we usually do it stripped down, with just two voices and a guitar, so this session was really fun. We built it up a little with some great players (Danny Pratt on drums, and Rhees Williams on bass), and felt especially lucky that Connor Vance from Dustbowl Revival was around Nashville that day and willing to sit in on fiddle and play with us. We filmed and recorded it live at Ten Four Recording Co. here in East Nashville, and it was engineered by stalwart supporter of sonic excellence, Jesse Thompson.” — Zack Smith, Smooth Hound Smith

Photo credit: Adam Murphy

LISTEN: Kristy Cox, “Finger Picking Good”

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Artist: Kristy Cox
Hometown: Adelaide, Australia originally (now Nashville, TN)
Song: “Finger Picking Good”
Album: No Headlights
Release Date: February 28, 2020
Label: Mountain Fever Records

In Their Words: “Since I was a girl, I have been a huge fan of Tommy Emmanuel. When my co-writers Jerry Salley, Bill Wythe, and I were writing this song we spoke about how great it would be if we could feature Tommy on the different fingerpicking tunes throughout the track, I was so incredibly excited when he said yes. I love this song; it was so much fun to write and even more fun to perform.” — Kristy Cox

Photo credit: Billy Joe and Clockwork Photography

WATCH: Tim Higgins, “I Blew It”

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Artist: Tim Higgins
Hometown: Greensboro, Alabama
Song: “I Blew It”
Album: BLIGHT
Release Date: February 28, 2020
Label: Folk Victorian Records

In Their Words: “‘I Blew It’ is about a disenchanted person who is trying to do his best, but knows he’s not going to succeed in the end. Whether it’s maintaining a relationship, battling addiction, or leading a cause downtown at some City Hall, for some people, it’s always futile odds. What I wanted to capture was the sense of duty someone could have to do what they believe is right even though the writing is already on the wall. To capture those kind of complex feelings and layers in one song, my producer Parker McAnnally and I let the verses stand alone with just my voice and acoustic guitar while the musical breaks sonically dip underwater, and undulate between Jack Thomason’s electric guitar and Alex Caress’ piano.

“For the music video, I worked again with Reagan Wells, who directed my last video, ‘Blight,’ and we returned to the ‘ruined finery’ theme that traverses this whole contemporary Southern Gothic album — where the line between memory and reality are blurred; I think the narrator in ‘I Blew It’ is always living between those worlds as well.” — Tim Higgins

Photo credit: Aaron Sanders Head

WATCH: Tami Neilson, “Sleep”

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Artist: Tami Neilson
Hometown: Auckland, New Zealand
Song: “Sleep”
Album: CHICKABOOM!
Release Date: February 14, 2020
Label: Outside Music

In Their Words: “This song was written by my dear friend and co-producer Delaney Davidson. He wrote it about keeping the Big Black Dog at bay; my two little boys think it’s a lullaby Mama sings only for them. My brother Jay and I wander into the audience at the end of the night with just a guitar and no amplification to sing this to the hush and send our audience gently home. It becomes what you want it to mean, like every song. But, it’s like a warm blanket, a soft pillow.

“This video was created by my other brother Todd Neilson of Valiant Creative Agency. You would never know the chaos behind the scenes! It is one shot and begins with Jay and I singing at the other end of the studio. As the camera pulls out, it reveals we are on the television set in the darkness of a living room where a family has gathered to watch before bed. However, the camera dolly had to roll straight through the living room and the entire thing had to be assembled within seconds in its wake.

“So, as we were peacefully singing, there was shouting and crashing and banging as the rug, plants and furniture were frantically placed by a team of six, the actors rolled the couch in (it was on skateboards!), sat down and had to look relaxed and calm as my little niece, River Neilson, fell asleep. The result is magical and I can almost feel my Dad’s arms around me, carrying me to bed when I watch it.” — Tami Neilson

Photo credit: Sabin Holloway

WATCH: My Sister, My Brother, “Forever Now”

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Artist: My Sister, My Brother (Garrison Starr, Sean McConnell, and Peter Groenwald)
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee and Los Angeles, California
Song: “Forever Now”
Album: My Sister, My Brother EP
Release Date: March 6, 2020

In Their Words: “When we wrote ‘Forever Now,’ I remember us all being excited about writing something upbeat. There’s nothing wrong with a sweet slow song, but we had already covered that ground. While having a different feel, this song comes from the same place as the others do. We were kind of trying to speak from the perspective of a 90-year-old man or woman, sitting on their front porch, wanting to share the worth of their experiences. There will be great days and terrible ones, you will love and you will lose, but none of it is forever. Don’t take the good for granted, and try not to hold on to the bad.” — Peter Groenwald

Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins. Director: Josh Kranich

WATCH: Mark Erelli, “Blindsided”

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Artist: Mark Erelli
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Blindsided”
Album: Blindsided
Release Date: February 21, 2020 (single); March 27, 2020 (album)
Label: Soundly Music

In Their Words: “The word has negative connotations, but I thought it would be interesting to use it in the context of a love song. Sure, you can be blindsided by an attack or caught unprepared by stormy weather. But love also has a funny way of finding you when you least expect it, regardless of whether you’re looking for it or not. With its soaring vocal harmonies, majestic strings and the band firing on all cylinders, this track really embodies and hints at all the sonic elements to come on the album.” — Mark Erelli

Photo credit: Joe Navas

LISTEN: Luke Wallace, “Pale Kids”

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Artist: Luke Wallace
Hometown: Vancouver, Canada – Coast Salish Territory
Song: “Pale Kids”
Album: What on Earth
Release Date: March 6, 2020
Label: Come To Life Music

In Their Words: “It’s hard to write songs about privilege without losing people in criticism or preaching. ‘Pale Kids’ is rooted in the truth that non-white communities have been fighting and dying for their rights, and all human rights, for a long time. This song is about calling in my fellow Pale folks into action, recognizing that our voices carry a lot of power when directed at the governments and institutions that maintain our privilege. I’m seeing more and more people from all backgrounds rising to the occasion and using their voices for justice, and I have a hunch that if thousands of privileged, middle-class white folks started showing up in the same way that our non-white counterparts are, we’d see rapid, sweeping changes to the way our governments treat non-white communities. It’s the old ‘with great privilege comes great responsibility.’ This song goes right to the heart of what that means, calling those who can to use their privilege for the liberation of all people.” — Luke Wallace

Photo credit: Alex Harris