Tag: premiere

LISTEN: Mike Block, “Walls of Time”

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Artist: Mike Block
Hometown: Overland Park, Kansas.
Song: “Walls of Time & Glory in the Meeting House”
Album: Walls of Time
Release Date: November 8, 2019
Label: Bright Shiny Things

In Their Words: “I really enjoyed mashing this bluegrass song up with an old-time fiddle tune. We used sections of the fiddle tune to replace the improvisational breaks in the bluegrass song, and Bruce Molsky even used a special instrument with sympathetic strings to capture an otherworldly sound. He also detuned to play in a different key than usual. My favorite aspect of the arrangement was getting the harmony vocals to toggle back-and-forth between major and minor in the choruses. We tried to give it a dramatic arc by massively re-harmonizing the final chorus before kicking up the tempo for the final fuddle tune break. I hope everyone enjoys this unique approach!” — Mike Block

Photo credit: Michelle Gendreau

LISTEN: Mary Bragg, “Our Lady of the Well”

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Artist: Mary Bragg
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Our Lady of the Well”
Album: Think About It EP
Release Date: March 6, 2020
Label: Mary Bragg Music/Tone Tree Music

In Their Words: “As a writer, one of the things that keeps me sane is that healthy part of the process which is to sometimes get out of your own head and away from your own stories. I’ve started looking for songs to learn that speak to me, and this one in particular, written by the great Jackson Browne, felt painfully timely, as it beautifully expresses some of the feelings I’ve been having about the world we live in, decades after it was written.

“I felt connected to the song after going to Mexico for the first time and experiencing the lovely people and culture there, where, just like in the States, ‘the families work the land as they have always done,’ and ‘your children will be born; you’ll watch them as they run.’ I decided to record it as a creative extension of my new album, Violets as Camouflage, with a similarly simple treatment, musically, with the focus on the story and the voice that’s telling it.” — Mary Bragg

Photo credit: Holly Lowman

LISTEN: Chandler Holt, “Cover More Ground”

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Artist: Chandler Holt
Hometown: Longmont, Colorado
Song: “Cover More Ground”
Album: Cover More Ground
Release Date: November 9, 2019
Label: Robust Records

In Their Words: “This tune just fell into my lap one day. I was messing around with the melody on the guitar and the chorus lyric just popped out of thin air. It took me a while to get the recurring melody to fit for the banjo but once it did the song really started to take shape. Singing while playing banjo and making it cohesive is always a challenge. There’s a reason you don’t see it a whole lot. I love going down that rabbit hole and I’m always surprised where I end up.” — Chandler Holt

Photo credit: Lewis Geyer

LISTEN: Fort Frances, “Desert Hotel”

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Artist: Fort Frances
Hometown: Chicago, Ilinois
Song: “Desert Hotel”
Album: The Front Page of the Modern Age
Release Date: November 8, 2019

In Their Words: “California has been a constant theme in my songwriting, but I’ve tended to focus on the very last mile of the coast of The Golden State. ‘Desert Hotel’ steers away from the Pacific toward desolate, uninterrupted beauty. I wrote this song after my wife and I spent a couple of nights somewhere outside Joshua Tree, dreaming of sending a letter to the rest of the world that we planned to vanish into the sands of southern California. The song is rooted in escaping everything — the city lights, city speeds and city noises — and being someone new. — David McMillin, Fort Frances

Photo credit: Ehud Lazin

WATCH: Jake Morley, “No Drama”

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Artist: Jake Morley
Hometown: London, UK
Song: “No Drama”
Release Date: November 8, 2019
Label: Sandwich Emporium Records

In Their Words: “‘No Drama’ is a little hymn to the pleasure of calm spaces. I was feeling a deep longing for them as my wife was pregnant with our first child and this song just tumbled out. Not that there isn’t a place for conflict and action, but everyone needs somewhere safe to retreat to.

“Risk is what makes live performance so interesting, but it felt like everything just fell into place with this take. John Parker and I have been playing together for many years and I love the understanding we have. Really hoping you like the video and am so grateful to my friends at The Bluegrass Situation for helping me share it.” — Jake Morley

Photo credit: John Williams

LISTEN: Kitchen Dwellers, “Driftwood”

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Artist: Kitchen Dwellers
Hometown: Bozeman, Montana
Song: “Driftwood”
Album: Muir Maid
Release Date: November 8, 2019

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Driftwood’ after living out of a kayak in Alaska one summer. The trip changed my life in many ways, but one was just appreciating what you have at any given moment in time. Life isn’t perfect and comfortable and sometimes curveballs get thrown your way, but ultimately how you come out the other end is based on your perspective and resilience. We were so fortunate to have Jason Carter add a fiddle track and he did some amazing work. Once we heard it we knew it had to be the last song on the album.” — Max Davies, guitar/vocals

Photo credit: Silky Shots

WATCH: Andrew VanNorstrand, “Boy With Gray Eyes”

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Artist: Andrew VanNorstrand
Hometown: Central New York
Song: “Boy With Gray Eyes”
Album: That We Could Find a Way to Be

In Their Words: “There’s this moment when you realize something; when it finally clicks and the clouds part and you see things as they are. It feels like you’re just… hovering. Suspended between worlds. That moment when you first face a truth, but before you know what happens next. Before you know what it really means. There is so much life in those moments. They are brief, rare, terrifying and beautiful. May we be better than we’ve been. And everyone said ‘Amen.'” — Andrew VanNorstrand

Photo credit: Louise Bichan

WATCH: Bowregard, “The Henrys”

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Artist: Bowregard
Hometown: Boulder, Colorado
Song: “The Henrys”
Album: Debut to be released early 2020

In Their Words: “‘The Henrys’ is the tale of a desperate outlaw attempting to escape his fate in the Henry Mountains of Utah. Written by Bowregard guitarist and vocalist Max Kabat and led by a driving dobro and fiddle melody, ‘The Henrys’ is a barnburner that has become a staple of our live set ever since its debut at the 2019 Telluride Bluegrass Festival band contest, which we were honored to win.

“The video was recorded by Mineral Sound in Lyons, Colorado, live in one take around a stereo pair of mics with no edits or overdubs. We’re currently in the studio working with producer Nick Forster (of Hot Rize fame) on our debut album, which we plan to release in early 2020 and can’t wait to share with the world.” — Bowregard

Photo credit: Daniel Herman

LISTEN: Charlie Hager, “Never Good”

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Artist: Charlie Hager
Hometown: Las Vegas/Nashville
Song: “Never Good”
Album: Truth and Love
Release Date: November 1, 2019
Label: Flour Sack Cape Records

In Their Words: “I think this song is reflective of what I was feeling at that time in my life. I had recently gone through a divorce and my work was stressful as well. I think my state of mind when I asked myself what ‘I’m good at’ became clear to me that I mess things up a lot. So in a sense, what started out as a narcissistic song actually ended up a little more truthful.” — Charlie Hager

Photo credit: Francis Myron Calara

LISTEN: The Hackles, “The Show Goes On”

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Artist: The Hackles
Hometown: Astoria, Oregon
Song: “The Show Goes On”
Album: A Dobritch Did as a Dobritch Should
Release Date: November 8, 2019
Label: Jealous Butcher Records

In Their Words: “‘The Show Goes On’ is an homage to and a reflection on the life of Bulgarian-born circus impresario Al Dobritch. The song arose from a circus-themed song challenge that sent me down a ‘Circus Circus’ research rabbit hole. Deep in that hole I discovered Al Dobritch, whose byzantine life got me thinking about the interaction between self-determination and outside, decisive forces in all our lives. It was recorded by us and Adam Selzer at The Rope Room studio in our hometown of Astoria, Oregon. Luke’s guitar & James Owen Greenan’s pedal steel converse, Cory Gray’s organ elevates, Gabrielle Macrae’s vocals elaborate, Olaf Ydstie’s drums are the train that goes off the cliff, and Adam Selzer’s percussion and mixing cause everything to make sense.” — Kati and Luke, The Hackles

Photo credit: Courtesy of HearthPR/Lauren Jacobsonᐧ