LISTEN: Evan Bartels, “Little Floating Lights”

Artist: Evan Bartels
Hometown: Tobias, Nebraska
Song: “Little Floating Lights”
Album: Lonesome
Release Date: September 17, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Little Floating Lights’ came from a longing for answers. Why are we here? Where do we go? What’s the meaning? I’ve searched in many ways and many places and come up empty. This song captures when I’ve come closest. When I am grounded in love and humanity. The divine doesn’t become obsolete, but it becomes intertwined with the here and now. The universe exists in a moment of pure love. And in those moments we can realize what is happening now is enough. We are enough.” — Evan Bartels


Photo credit: Paige Sara

LISTEN: Madeline Hawthorne, “Riverbank” (Feat. Mimi Naja)

Artist: Madeline Hawthorne
Hometown: Bozeman, Montana
Song: “Riverbank” (featuring Mimi Naja)
Album: Boots
Release Date: October 1, 2021

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Riverbank’ after my first overnight rafting trip down the Smith River in Montana. This was early on in the pandemic, May of 2020. I was in a dark place emotionally after having to cancel my tour and say goodbye to bandmates, who decided to move on from music to pursue other careers. This river trip brought me back to life and that’s when I decided to write my entire album, Boots. I hold a very special place in my heart for our rivers. They foster beautiful and healthy ecosystems that open your heart and your mind. Floating down a river allows us to witness a part of this earth untainted, serene and powerful. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to explore rivers in the West and I hope that this song brings listeners the feeling that I have when I’m in my happy place hanging out on the Yellowstone River or the beautiful Salmon River in Idaho. There’s just nothing like floating down the line with the one you love, cold beer in hand, warm sun on your skin and good tunes in the background — pure bliss.” — Madeline Hawthorne


Photo credit: Dan Bradner

LISTEN: Angus Gill, “The Scrapbook”

Artist: Angus Gill
Home: New South Wales, Australia
Song: “The Scrapbook”
Album: The Scrapbook
Release Date: September 24, 2021
Label: Rivershack Records/MGM

In Their Words: “My Nan has diligently collected every newspaper article or clipping about me that has ever gone to print and often saved multiple copies of each one. She’s said to me for years that she wants to put them all into a scrapbook and gift it to me. She started to compile the scrapbook shortly after her Alzheimer’s diagnosis, but in the middle of putting it together, we had to make the difficult call to move her into a nursing home. She promised she would finish it and several months ago, she actually managed to, which was beautiful. I saw a pretty poignant idea in this story, which I told to my friend Bill Whyte and we wrote ‘The Scrapbook’ shortly after. Nan’s not doing great at the moment, but it’s very special to me to have this song on the record as the title track. It sums up this collection of songs well because there are a lot of personal snapshots of my life on this album.” — Angus Gill


Photo credit: Jackson James

WATCH: Phoebe Hunt, “Goin’ Gone” (Tribute to Nanci Griffith)

Artist: Phoebe Hunt featuring Tabitha Meeks and Makena Hartlin (the Pitch Pipes)
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Goin’ Gone”

In Their Words: “I was introduced to the Pitch Meeting in Nashville by my dear friend Makena Hartlin. She kept telling me to come out to Sonny’s on a Tuesday here in Nashville. I had been reluctant to go anywhere during the pandemic, but this August, I felt like it was time and the Pitch Meeting graciously featured me as their guest artist. It was really special to see what can happen when a group of supremely talented individuals come together to support one another. I felt heard, held, supported and lifted up. I hadn’t played in a live setting with a full band in a really long time and it really lifted my spirits. The next week, Makena and Tabitha Meeks invited me to be a featured guest in their Pitch Pipes female songwriter showcase. Again, I was blown away by the support from these beautiful women.

“Nanci Griffith passed the day before I met up with the Pitch Pipes. My husband and I had her album, The Last of the True Believers, on repeat in our home and I felt deeply connected to her voice, her writing and the covers she chose to sing. You can hear genuine tenderness in her voice. You can feel her spirit. So, I brought ‘Goin’ Gone’ to Makena and Tabitha and asked if they would be open to learning it and paying tribute to Nanci with me. It feels sacred to sing the songs she sang in her wake. As if we can keep the music and her memory alive simply by playing the songs she held close. We’ve lost many beautiful souls lately and it feels important to sing the songs of those who pass and keep their spirit alive through the music they left behind.” — Phoebe Hunt


Photo credit: Nate Luebbe

LISTEN: Jeremy Pinnell, “Goodbye L.A.”

Artist: Jeremy Pinnell
Hometown: Southgate, Kentucky
Song: “Goodbye L.A.”
Album: Goodbye L.A.
Release Date: October 1, 2021
Label: SofaBurn Records

In Their Words:Goodbye L.A. was a special situation. I was introduced to Jonathan Tyler through a mutual friend and I was a little nervous about making a record with Jonathan. But we took a leap of faith and and found out it was the best thing we could’ve done. The feeling of excitement was present in the studio. New songs, new ideas flowing in and then hearing the playback was such a positive experience. I’m excited for people to hear these songs we wrote mostly from being on the road and I hope they enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it. We’ve worked really hard to make this album. Long hours, hardly any pay, and many nights away from home make this album what it is.” — Jeremy Pinnell


Photo credit: Melissa Fields

LISTEN: Kris Gruen, “Pictures Of”

Artist: Kris Gruen
Hometown: Worcester, Vermont
Song: “Pictures Of”
Album: Welcome Farewell
Release Date: September 24, 2021
Label: Mother West

In Their Words: “My firstborn has started a list of her first choices for college. I’m gonna look past how stereotypical I sound and just say it… Feels like yesterday that I was swinging her to sleep in her detachable car seat and spinning her favorite episodic bedtime story, Stanley the Friendly Whale. I’ve written her songs, and into songs, in the past. One of them was about a deep nostalgia for her younger years, but ‘Pictures Of’ is a tribute to her maturation and readiness for the world. It’s a Woody Guthrie-esque declaration of belief in her courage and her right to be in love with the world, recognizing that we, her elders, spend hours every day filling her ears with reasons to fear it. ‘Pictures Of’ says, ‘Yes, be excited for and in love with the world! Regardless of our collective fear in the unknown, I can tell you want to be! And you’re right to be! And I’m glad you are!'” — Kris Gruen


Photo credit: Jeff Forney

WATCH: The Connells, “Stars”

Artist: The Connells
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Song: “Stars”
Album: Steadman’s Wake
Release Date: September 24, 2021
Label: Black Park/Missing Piece Records

In Their Words: “I find the lyrics to be the hardest aspect of songwriting, which is why it is not uncommon for me to come up with the basic idea for a song well before the lyrics are finalized — months and months in some cases. That’s the way it went with ‘Stars.’ It is the tongue-in-cheek lament of someone who feels as though the stars are aligned against him, and who is asking ‘When it’s over, tell me….’ There’s been a lot going on in the world — global pandemic, political turmoil, global warming — that make the ‘When it’s over, tell me’ refrain a bit more resonant.” — Mike Connell, The Connells


Photo credit: Bryan Regan

On “Radio Silence,” The Highwomen’s Natalie Hemby Lets Her Voice Be Heard

Natalie Hemby’s new single “Radio Silence” puts her cunning sensibility as a songwriter on full display, while drawing on the strengths of co-writers Rosi Golan and Daniel Tashian. No slouches themselves, Golan is an accomplished songwriter whose music can be heard on countless TV shows and films, and Tashian is a writer and producer in Nashville with credits such as Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour.

With this dream team in support, Hemby’s weighty single encapsulates the anxiousness of being cut off from a friend — a true story that hits close to home. “This song is basically about being ghosted by a friend, only not because of a fallout, but because your friend doesn’t want to drag you into their struggles, so they shut down,” says Hemby. “I was the friend, and Rosi Golan was the one reaching out. We wrote the song with Daniel Tashian.”

An acclaimed writer and two-time Grammy Award winner, Hemby will releasing her first major label record as a solo artist, following her work with the Highwomen, the collaborative group with Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, and Amanda Shires. “Radio Silence” and lead single “Heroes” precede Pins And Needles, an album that leans on her rock and roots musical influences, due out October 8 on Fantasy Records. “Pins And Needles is the record I never got the chance to make and I always wanted to,” she adds. “It’s the late 90’s sound, which is the sound of my young adult life.”


Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

LISTEN: Katie Frank, “Come Clean”

Artist: Katie Frank
Hometown: Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
Song: “Come Clean”
Album: Small Town Minds
Release Date: October 8, 2021

In Their Words: “I started writing ‘Come Clean’ while I was still living in Philly. I was 29 at the time and going through a big growth period, where I was really taking a good hard look at who I was, who I had been, and who I wanted to be. I was trying to heal from past traumas and change the way I responded to things emotionally, because I couldn’t stand being on that rollercoaster anymore. When you change the way you respond, it can make an impact on relationships, which is something I experienced. Come Clean is about trying to evolve and become, but having people in your life who still remind you or hold you to who you used to be. On one of my first trips to Nashville, I brought this song to a writing session with Carl Anderson and Kirby Brown. They are both amazing songwriters and they helped me bring the song to a whole other level. It was after that session that I decided I needed to move here.” — Katie Frank


Photo credit: Natia Cinco

LISTEN: Caleb Lee Hutchinson, “I Must Be Right”

Artist: Caleb Lee Hutchinson
Hometown: Dallas, Georgia
Song: “I Must Be Right”
Album: Slot Machine Syndrome
Release Date: September 17, 2021

In Their Words: “‘I Must Be Right’ is a song I wrote with the incredible Trey Hensley on Zoom during the middle of 2020. I have been a fan of Trey for quite some time and was very excited to write with one of my favorite guitar pickers of all time. I tried to bring some kind of guitar lick into the write, which ended up being what you hear in the first few seconds of the song. Trey had the idea for the lyric and it only took us maybe an hour to write it. Trey is such an amazing writer and player so it didn’t take much for us to write a song like ‘I Must Be Right.’ It’s one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written as a result.” — Caleb Lee Hutchinson


Photo credit: Don VanCleave