Tag: Song Premiere

LISTEN: Rodes, “So Well”

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Artist: Rodes
Hometown: Durham, North Carolina
Song: “So Well”
Album: All of My Friends
Release Date: October 22, 2021

In Their Words: “‘So Well’ was an idea that came to me on the drive home from work one night, that was then fleshed out on a guitar the next day. I was nearing the end of a tumultuous professional relationship and feeling frustrated and powerless. I think there are elements of it that can be interpreted as a breakup song, and in some ways it is. Ultimately, it’s a song about power imbalance and not having the right tools or access to bring someone to justice.

“We tried out a couple different arrangements for ‘So Well,’ but ultimately decided on one that centered on rhythmic acoustic guitar and a straightforward drum beat. I had the slide guitar line in my head, but I couldn’t quite translate it to the guitar while keeping it in tune. Ryan (Johnson, formerly of American Aquarium) stepped in and laid down a beautiful lead part that really anchors the whole song. I think he captured the mournful and resigned spirit of it perfectly.” — Rodes

Photo credit: Chris Frisina

LISTEN: Lilly Hiatt, “Simple”

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Artist: Lilly Hiatt
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Simple”
Album: Lately
Release Date: October 15, 2021
Label: New West Records

In Their Words: “The love that exists in our universe is infinite. My family is a big part of that realization for me, and they all appear in this song. I wanted this to begin the album as if to say hello with a smile.” — Lilly Hiatt

Photo credit: Dylan Reyes

LISTEN: Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, “Groundhog’s Retreat”

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Artist: Chris Jones & The Night Drivers
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Groundhog’s Retreat”
Album: Make Each Second Last
Release Date: October 15, 2021
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “Instrumentals I write are often ones that would serve as song melodies, too, if they had words, and that’s the case here. I wrote it on the guitar, but envisioned it as a mandolin tune, so I wanted to bring in Mark Stoffel to join in the composition and take it in that direction.” — Chris Jones

“Chris presented me the idea for an instrumental co-write on ‘Groundhog Day,’ which is an important day in the Stoffel household because we get to watch our all-time favorite movie. Need I say the title? In any case, I loved the melody and the structure of the tune …. and to be honest, I didn’t have to add much to it, just a few minor tweaks. But I do take full credit for the title!” — Mark Stoffel

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

LISTEN: Nicholas Edward Williams, “Shake Sugaree”

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Artist: Nicholas Edward Williams
Hometown: Rising Fawn, Georgia
Song: “Shake Sugaree”
Album: Folk Songs For Old Times’ Sake
Release Date: November 2, 2021
Label: EarthTone Records

In Their Words: “I’ve taken a keen interest in Elizabeth Cotten‘s famed ‘Cotten picking’ style starting back in 2016 with my mentor Joan Crane. I had no idea how to articulate what Elizabeth was doing and my first successful thumb-led syncopated bass lines — while adding the melody to ‘Freight Train’ with my forefingers — took nearly a year to wrap my mind around and get comfortable with. From there, Elizabeth laid the foundation for so many other fingerpicking styles that I’ve come to study, mostly thanks to Joan, who was an absolute whiz at Delta blues, country blues, and Piedmont blues on guitar.

“I love that Elizabeth actually wrote ‘Shake Sugaree’ with her grandchildren, asking each one to take the chorus home in their heads and figure out a verse before they went to bed. She had such a fascinating life story, and the music she put out was incredibly influential for American folk and blues guitarists in the 1960s when her album Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs was released, thanks in large part to the Seeger family. She won a Grammy at 90, just a few years before passing away, and directly influenced John Prine, Dave Van Ronk, John Fahey and countless other pickers, yet today, she’s not as well-known or revered as she should be. I’ve felt drawn to share her songs and stories for some time. This is just the first time I’m adding it on a record.” — Nicholas Edward Williams

Photo credit: Cypress Rae Photography

LISTEN: Carolyn Wonderland, “Fortunate Few”

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Artist: Carolyn Wonderland
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Fortunate Few”
Album: Tempting Fate
Release Date: October 8, 2021
Label: Alligator Records

In Their Words: “Well, sometimes we write ourselves advice we don’t take for a while, don’t we? I started writing ‘Fortunate Few’ one hard, bleary-eyed morning on the road while holding my head in one hand and trying to count my blessings on the fingers of the other. It originally had a more John Prine feel to it (think: ‘In Spite of Ourselves’), but I thought better of trying to emulate the master in a form so closely related to that chord structure and started banging away on some acoustic blues. The title made me realize I also must have been listening to a lot of Delbert McClinton the night before. That is never a bad thing!” — Carolyn Wonderland

Photo credit: Ismael Quintanilla

LISTEN: Zoe & Cloyd, “Rebuild”

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Artist: Zoe & Cloyd
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Rebuild”
Album: Rebuild
Release Date: October 8, 2021
Label: Organic Records

In Their Words: “‘Rebuild’ is a song that didn’t start out as an album title track. Our bandmate Bennett Sullivan approached me with a song idea about interpersonal turmoil and resolution. The song became ‘Rebuild’ and I quickly realized that this was an overarching theme running through this entire collection of songs. The pandemic has touched us all in some way. Relationships have been strained, and in some cases, pushed to the breaking point. We’ve lost loved ones. We’ve been tasked with repairing ourselves and our connections. We all have to rebuild.” — John Cloyd Miller, Zoe & Cloyd

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

LISTEN: The Wild Feathers, “Get Out of My Own Way”

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Artist: The Wild Feathers
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Get Out Of My Own Way”
Album: Alvarado
Release Date: October 8, 2021
Label: New West Records

In Their Words: “‘Get Out of My Own Way’ is one of those last-minute songs that somehow makes it on the record. We write a lot and there’s just no telling how or why a song will make the final cut. It’s very personal to me and my own struggle to not make things so hard on myself. Sometimes our insecurities and fears get in the way of who we really are and writing this song was me realizing that. It’s OK to have these feelings, but I’m learning to let things go and get out of the way.” — Ricky Young, The Wild Feathers

Photo credit: Alex Justice

LISTEN: Patrick Dethlefs, “If You Listen”

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Artist: Patrick Dethlefs
Hometown: Kittredge, Colorado
Song: “If You Listen”
Album: If You Listen
Release Date: October 1, 2021

In Their Words: “This song explores the idea of still feeling connected to loved ones who have passed on. Feeling their presence even though they are no longer physically here. Maybe even asking the question, ‘Is this person with me now more than they have ever been?’ This theme carries on throughout the rest of the record but on this song particularly that connection feels truly realized and known.” — Patrick Dethlefs

Photo credit: Brooke Svitak

LISTEN: Haunted Like Human, “Ohio”

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Artist: Haunted Like Human
Hometown: Nashville, TN; originally Fayetteville, Georgia (Dale Chapman) and Milton-Freewater, Oregon (Cody Clark)
Song: “Ohio”
Album: Tall Tales & Fables
Release Date: October 15, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Ohio’ is a special song for us. It started in the fall of 2018 when we were touring off of our EP Folklore and stopped to spend time with some of Cody’s family in Ohio. In chatting with his grandmother, she was telling the story of falling in love with her husband when he was in her native South Carolina, and how when she was pregnant he sent her up to Ohio to live with his family while he worked and sent money back. Things kept keeping him in South Carolina and she said offhand, ‘You know, he was just trying to get back to Ohio.’ I remember in that moment thinking that there was a song in that one statement and I sat with it for about a year until we really started writing again for this record. The end result is a story told through letters back home of a man wanting to do right by his family while also wanting to get back home to them.” — Dale Chapman, Haunted Like Human

Photo credit: Caroline Voisine

LISTEN: Moot Davis, “Hey Hey”

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Artist: Moot Davis
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Hey Hey”
Album: Seven Cities of Gold
Release Date: October 22, 2021
Label: Boot Knife Records

In Their Words: “I wrote this song in Nashville in 2002 just before I got signed to Pete Anderson’s Little Dog Records label. It’s a song that I’ve had in my back pocket for a long time, but when I was gathering tunes for this album I took it back out. The song was pretty close to being done, but the chorus needed to be reworked. My girlfriend Katie actually came up with the chorus while she was busy painting one of the large pictures that hangs in our little house.

“The making of the Seven Cities of Gold album was the most fun I’ve ever had in the studio and I think it really comes across on tracks like ‘Hey Hey.’ I was making music with my friends who I’ve known and worked with for years, with no pressure or financial constraints. We recorded it at my drummer Blake Oswald’s home studio and it was very relaxed and heavy on the vodka. I think we were all shocked when it turned out so well, because it was the first time we had ever produced anything on our own. Along with Oswald and myself, we had our past tour manager and studio engineer, Jody Sappington, help us produce and play bass. My longtime guitarist Bill Corvino really gave the album some sharp teeth with his playing while Skip Edwards and Gary Morse added beautiful parts on B3 and pedal steel. Our buddy Al Backstrom (Angela’s husband) did an awesome job mixing the album and laying down some killer harmonies.

“Sometimes projects just come together and it would be really hard to recreate it at any other time. We decided to put the album out now because we are already starting pre-production on the next album, so we felt it was time to get it out of the gate and share it. It’s hard to move forward with a brand new project until the current one is released. Like bullets in a sonic gun, baby!” — Moot Davis

Photo credit: David McClister