Tag: premiere

LISTEN: Jordi Baizan, “Between the Sun and the Moon”

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Artist: Jordi Baizan
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Song: “Between the Sun and the Moon”
Album: Free and Fine
Release Date: June 28, 2019
Label: Berkalin Records

In Their Words: “‘Between the Sun and the Moon’ is a song about love at first sight that weaves in my fascination with serendipity and synchronicity. I was inspired to write it when I was out in the Central Texas countryside towards the end of a beautiful spring day. The sun was setting in the western sky just as the moon was rising. If it was not for that memorable moment, the song would not be written today. Here are two lovers who meet, dance, and are forever marked by their romantic encounter between the sun and the moon. Is their story one of luck or is there a greater significance?” — Jordi Baizan

Photo credit: Valerie Fremin

LISTEN: Willie Nelson, “My Favorite Picture of You”

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As one of country music’s greatest interpreters, Willie Nelson has put his indelible stamp on Guy Clark’s late-career masterpiece, “My Favorite Picture of You.” It is a stunning centerpiece of Nelson’s latest project, Ride Me Back Home.

“What I remember most about recording the song was the reverence and respect with which all the musicians showed the lyrics and melody as we were recording it,” says producer Buddy Cannon. “I chose to present this song to Willie because, from the moment Guy Clark sang it for me at his home one morning a few years ago, I have not been able to get the song and the photograph the song was written about out of my head. As Guy was getting ready to sing the song for me he reached behind him and took the photograph of his wife off the wall and told me the story of where the song came from. The song is timeless, just like Willie Nelson is timeless. A perfect marriage of singer and song.”

In the exclusive video below, Nelson shares his own thoughts on Guy Clark and “My Favorite Picture of You.”

Photo credit: Pamela Springsteen
Video courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment

LISTEN: Matt Woods, “Drive-Thru Town”

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Artist: Matt Woods
Hometown: Knoxville, Tennessee
Song: “Drive-Thru Town”
Album: Natural Disasters
Release Date: June 28, 2019
Label: Lonely Ones Records

In Their Words: “After spending the better part of the last decade criss-crossing this country, I feel like I have watched many towns literally start to dwindle to little more than a corporate box store and fast food restaurants. Meanwhile, the people living there struggle to navigate their new reality, out of opportunity and resources. I have met those hanging on to hope and those who feel like there is little hope left. This song attempts to capture that reality.” — Matt Woods

Photo credit: Chad Cochran

LISTEN: Ruby Landen, “Rock”

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Artist: Ruby Landen
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Song: “Rock”
Album: Meditation Sounds (EP)
Release Date: June 21, 2019

In Her Words: “I recently unearthed the lyrics to this song and put them to music. I wrote this after a breakup and then couldn’t play it for a few years because of feelings and stuff. At the time, I was feeling all kinds of guilt for not being able to be what this particular person thought I was and should be. [I] was expected to be unconditionally supportive without reciprocation, which is where the whole rock metaphor started. In other words, it’s a breakup song — but I learned a lot about rocks in the process.” — Ruby Landen

Photo credit: Angela Scileppi

LISTEN: 3 Pairs of Boots, “Gone South”

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Artist: 3 Pairs of Boots
Hometown: San Francisco, California
Track: “Gone South”
Album: Gone South
Release Date: July 12, 2019
Label: Dark Country Music

In Their Words: “The overall idea of the song comes from how so many people feel about work and life in general. They work so hard, give it their all, trying to get ahead, and for a variety of reasons and circumstances instead find themselves back where they started the next day, no further along than the previous day. That coupled with the belief in their dreams of what they thought they were destined for, something better, makes the reality of where then ended up hit hard and make them wonder how it all went south… As the song relates, Sisyphus was condemned to roll the boulder up the hill all day, only to find it at the bottom of the hill the next day.” — Andrew Stern, 3 Pairs of Boots

Photo credit: Vinny Cancilliere

LISTEN: Delbert McClinton and Self-Made Men + Dana, “Gone to Mexico”

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Artist: Delbert McClinton and Self-Made Men + Dana
Hometown: Lubbock, Texas
Song: “Gone to Mexico”
Album: Tall, Dark, & Handsome
Release Date: July 26, 2019
Label: Hot Shot Records/Thirty Tigers

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Gone to Mexico’ several years ago, and my son Clay recorded it on a record he did. I had never done it, so I thought I’d do it on this record. Jim Hoke put the horn arrangements on it — the saxophones — and just made it explode.” — Delbert McClinton

Photo credit: Jeremy Fetzer

LISTEN: Chris Gantry, “Wasted”

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Artist: Chris Gantry
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Wasted”
Album: Nashlantis
Release Date: July 27, 2019
Label: Drag City

In Their Words: “‘Wasted’ is the epiphany of an older man who has weathered the storm and is still standing, while paying homage to those who helped get him through the ordeals and tribulations of life. It’s a thank you and tribute to the unseen spirits that be that have protected and guided him. Having lived as long as he has, he is aware that the piper could show up anytime and tap him on the shoulder to go home — which he is at peace with and ready, should the moment arise.

“I usually do a more visceral version of this song, kinda channeling a little of Tom Waits. When I recorded it my producer, Jerry DeCicca, asked me to pull it back and soften it a bit, which I did. I was so used to doing it the other way that it took me about three takes to get it the way he’d asked me to. Also, it’s a song I always play harmonica on, which I didn’t do. So, that took some adjusting. All and all it was smooth as butter.” — Chris Gantry

Photo credit: Gabe McCurdy

LISTEN: Will Beeley, “Been a Drifter”

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Artist: Will Beeley
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
Song: “Been a Drifter”
Album: Highways & Heart Attacks
Label: Tompkins Square

In Their Words: “I wrote this with an old friend of mine named Bob Smith. Bob did extra work in the movies back in the ’50s, mainly Westerns. We were comparing our life stories and decided we were both graduates from the school of hard knocks. As I remember, the song pretty much wrote itself.” — Will Beeley

Photo credit: Jesse Fisher

LISTEN: Matt Harlan, “K&W”

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Artist: Matt Harlan
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Song: “K&W” (featuring Kelley Mickwee)
Album: Best Beasts
Release Date: July 12, 2019
Label: Eight 30 Records

In Their Words: “‘K&W’ is about two addict truck drivers in a relationship. One’s a drinker and one’s into heavier stuff. Whatever your poison, it can be easy to settle into self-destructive behavior when you’re traveling all the time and missing home and each other. Theirs is a modern day Romeo and Juliet tale. Boy meets girl and falls in love, but it’s their jobs and habits keeping them apart instead of their families. He assumes the worst about her before she can truly break his heart herself and ends it all.” — Matt Harlan

Photo credit: Brian T. Atkinson

LISTEN: Jesse Terry & Alex Wong, “Landfall”

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Artists: Jesse Terry & Alex Wong
Hometown: Stonington, Connecticut (Jesse); Nashville, TN (Alex)
Song: “Landfall”
Album: Kivalina
Release Date: June 14, 2019 (single); September 2019 (Kivalina EP)

In Their Words: “When we set out to tell this story, we wanted people who listened to the album from beginning to end to feel like they were watching a movie… and we wanted ‘Landfall’ to feel like our establishing shot… As a song, it’s a birds eye view of our own introduction to the story of the village of Kivalina and how climate change was affecting so many in their situation. The chorus came out of our own ignorance of the scope of the issue… who would believe such a crazy thing could be happening right now?” — Alex Wong

Photo credit: Jess Terry