Tag: premiere

LISTEN: Lisa Bastoni, “Walk a Little Closer” (Feat. Lula Wiles)

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Artist: Lisa Bastoni
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Walk a Little Closer” (featuring Lula Wiles)
Album: How We Want to Live
Release Date: September 20, 2019

In Their Words: “One day a couple of winters ago, Sean Staples (How We Want to Live‘s producer) and I were writing at my kitchen table and he said, ‘Well, maybe they don’t all have to be devastating.’ Which I thought was an excellent point. We wrote this in 45 minutes, based on a Lynda Barry-inspired writing exercise around the word ‘adore.’ It was refreshing to write something so lighthearted, just a simple bluegrass song that tells the story of a first date. The first time I played it out was at a little bar in Cambridge, with Isa Burke on fiddle and harmony. That was the seed of the new album — to record locally, with some of my favorite musicians and people. I’m so happy to have Isa, as well as Eleanor Buckland and Mali Obomsawin (aka Lula Wiles) playing on this track!
— Lisa Bastoni

Photo credit: Love and Perry Photography and Film

LISTEN: Beth Bombara, “Tenderhearted”

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Artist: Beth Bombara
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Song: “Tenderhearted”
Album: Evergreen
Release Date: August 9, 2019
Label: Lemp Electric

In Their Words: “I try not to write love songs, but sometimes I just can’t help it. That was the case with ‘Tenderhearted.’ I didn’t know what it was going to be about when I started writing, but it kind of all came out in one writing session, which is really rare for me. The song is definitely personal, touching on my relationship with my husband, who also happens to be in my band. We’ve both made sacrifices to support each other’s creative dreams, because we respect and believe in each other. I think that’s the basis of a strong relationship.” — Beth Bombara

Photo credit: Nate Burrell

LISTEN: ClayBank, “Dreamer”

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Artist: ClayBank
Hometown: Claybank, North Carolina, and Southern Virginia
Song: “Dreamer”
Album: Road Signs and Highways
Release Date: July 26, 2019
Label: Mountain Fever Records

In Their Words: “Jamie Harper and I heard ‘Dreamer’ a long time ago by a great band in our region. Sometime after, I texted Shannon Slaughter, who’s a great songwriter, about songs and ‘Dreamer’ was in the batch he sent me. I hadn’t thought about it much until we were looking for material for this new album, but when I shared it with the band, all the guys loved it and thought it fit the style we’re going for. We all love the positive message. In bluegrass there’s a lot of killing and prison themed songs — and we love playing them — but it’s really cool to have a song with a positive message every now and then. I hope everyone enjoys it.” — Jason Davis, Banjo, ClayBank

Photo credit: Kady D Photography

LISTEN: Guy Forsyth & Jeska Bailey, “Things That Matter”

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Artist: Guy Forsyth & Jeska Bailey
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Things That Matter”
Album: Conspirators
Release Date: July 26, 2019
Label: Small & Nimble Records

In Their Words: “I lived a lot of different places while I was growing up. My dad worked for the airlines while I was young and we moved around a lot. Rich or poor, lucky or unfortunate, people are the same everywhere. It has never made sense to me that some have and some don’t. I wrote “Things That Matter” after my daughter was born. She has taught me a bunch, but this more than anything: We are all we have. People are at their best when they are sharing the thing they love. In the poorest places happiness is still possible in the connection of two souls.” — Guy Forsyth

Photo credit: Josh Baker

LISTEN: Erisy Watt, “Treasure Maps”

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Artist: Erisy Watt
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Song: “Treasure Maps”
Album: Paints in the Sky
Release Date: July 26, 2019

In Their Words: “I wrote this song when I was attending school in Santa Barbara, California. Moving there when I was 18 after growing up in Nashville, Tennessee felt like a dream and a lot of my earlier songs were inspired by that change. I’ve since happily put down new roots in Portland, Oregon, but every time I sing this song, a golden-state nostalgia settles in and carries me back to those seemingly simpler times. While this song may be lighthearted, it archives an important coming-of-age chapter of my life and serves to remind me to hang on to my youth and curiosity and not take things too seriously.

“I love the way this song comes to life with a full band. I feel very fortunate to have such great players on it — Anna Tivel on violin, Jeremy Ferrara on guitar, Hanna Haas singing harmonies, Matt Fabi on bass, and Michael Mitchell on drums. ‘Treasure Maps’ is the second track on my debut full-length album, Paints in the Sky. I’m really looking forward to the full album release show at the Old Church Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, July 25, where I’ll be accompanied by seven other musicians to bring these songs to life. I’ll be taking off on tour for much of August and September around the western US and then to Europe later in the fall. Many of those shows will be with a full band as well. You can find more details at my website.” — Erisy Watt

Photo credit: Bradley Cox

LISTEN: Kevin Daniel, “Time to Rise”

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Artist: Kevin Daniel
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Song: “Time to Rise”
Album: Things I Don’t See
Release Date: July 12, 2019 (single)

In Their Words: “I wrote the first draft of ‘Time to Rise’ at my hotel in Nashville during AmericanaFest in 2018. My friend and I were riffing and he gave me a word to rhyme. That word was ‘apologize’ and then a song came out, which I worked on over the next few months. It features Shannon Soderlund from Punch The Sun on vocals, singing into a super vintage RCA mic from the 50s. We met at a random show in NYC and she’s so good, I just had to have her sing.” — Kevin Daniel

Photo credit: Robbie Quinn

WATCH: Kacy & Clayton, “The Forty-Ninth Parallel”

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Artist: Kacy & Clayton
Hometown: Rural Saskatchewan
Song: “The Forty-Ninth Parallel”
Album: Carrying On (produced by Jeff Tweedy)
Release Date: October 4th, 2019
Label: New West Records

In Their Words: “‘The Forty-Ninth Parallel’ video was filmed in Regina, Saskatchewan, and it shouldn’t be hard to tell. Filmmaking treasure, Sunny Adams, has created somewhat of a young woman’s ‘Experience Regina’ demonstration video. There are off-putting moments throughout involving a Bud Light Lime hat, a very faint farmer’s tan, and a couple of total Sasky party machines. The song itself is a Gen Z’s attempt at a fable. The moral is skewed but there still is one if you’re looking. Watching a truck rip donuts to our song has been an unexpected highlight of my life and I hope others may enjoy it too.” — Kacy Anderson

Photo credit: Mat Dunlap

LISTEN: Louisa Branscomb’s “Gonna Love Anyway”

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Featured Songwriter: Louisa Branscomb
Hometown: Cartersville, Georgia
Song: “Gonna Love Anyway” (written by Louisa Branscomb and Jennifer Strickland, performed by Sierra Hull, Jim Hurst, Bryan McDowell, Missy Raines, & Molly Tuttle)
Album: Gonna Love Anyway
Release Date: July 26, 2019
Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “Being a songwriter keeps you honest if you let it. When I began this project, I’d been through a time of loss and change, including a tornado that took out my farm, losing both parents, and a little heartbreak thrown in to sweeten the mix. So I was looking for images of hope and resilience. Those images became the theme, and then the songs became the album. The song I worked the project around is ‘Gonna Love Anyway,’ with images of fragility and survival at the same time: a flower blooming in December, a cloud letting go of rain, and finally the guitar you pick up on a gamble that there’s one more song. I was so honored that Molly Tuttle agreed to do this one; she herself has such artistic power and grace at the same time, so it’s a perfect match. That is true of Sierra Hull, Jim Hurst, Bryan McDowell, and Missy Raines as artists as well, and that’s why I think this collaboration is so stunning and magical.” — Louisa Branscomb

Photo credit: Vicki Burton

LISTEN: Philippe Bronchtein, “Oregon Air”

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Artist: Philippe Bronchtein
Hometown: Portland, Oregon / Montclair, New Jersey (now based in Nashville, Tennessee)
Song: “Oregon Air”
Album: Oregon Air EP
Release Date: July 23, 2019

In Their Words: “I remember finishing the song ‘Oregon Air’ at my friend Martin’s kitchen table in Seattle. The song had sat half-finished for a few years as a patchwork of imagery about my hometown in New Jersey. Over the course of the afternoon it morphed into an introspective saga about what home means, contrasting landmarks of my adopted hometown of Portland, Oregon, with the childhood familiarity of New Jersey. The song asks more questions than it answers, but the immediacy of time and place within the track hopefully leaves the listener with a silhouette of what home means to them.” — Philippe Bronchtein

Photo Credit: Laura Partain

LISTEN: Charlie and the Rays, “Away For The Weekend”

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Artist: Charlie and the Rays
Hometown: New York, New York
Song: “Away For The Weekend”
Album: That’s Where You Were Born
Release Date: July 5, 2019

In Their Words: “We had just gotten back from a small tour out to Montana [when] Rebecca heard about a protest in Seattle where some people had been tear-gassed by police. Like so much of the news today, it was deeply upsetting that this event didn’t circulate through the public like we thought it would. This song is the reaction to a seemingly futile social and political atmosphere and our confusion about the best way to create momentum surrounding important civil rights issues. It may seem like a song about heartbreak, because it is. We are heartbroken that school children are continuously being shot up in our country, and that the color of someone’s skin dictates the likelihood of being shot and killed by those who are supposed to be protecting us. We don’t know the answers, but we hope this song can spur conversation and motivate change.” — Jordan Stobbe, Charlie and the Rays

Photo credit: Anna Letson