Tag: Song Premiere

LISTEN: Ross Adams, “Tobacco Country”

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Artist: Ross Adams
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Song: “Tobacco Country”
Album: Escaping Southern Heat
Release Date: September 10, 2021

In Their Words: “The inspiration behind ‘Tobacco Country’ came from always staying true to your roots and remembering the people who helped you follow your path and dreams. The South raised me and the culture is in my heart, it is family, and reminds me of simpler times. It’s coming to that realization of needing to grow out of your adolescence to make your soul thrive and shape your own destiny. I don’t plan on staying in the South forever. I have this dream of moving out West, but ‘Tobacco Country’ was me sorta remembering my roots, but still wanting to get out and see the world.” — Ross Adams

Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins

LISTEN: Swamptooth, “The Owl Theory”

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Artist: Swamptooth
Hometown: Savannah, Georgia
Song: “The Owl Theory”
Album: B-Flat Earth
Release Date: September 17, 2021

In Their Words: “This song was written by guitarist Jay Rudd. In the Netflix series The Staircase, crime novelist Michael Peterson was convicted of murdering his wife who was found dead at the bottom of the stairs in their home. A few years later a neighbor brought forth a new theory that an owl had attacked Peterson’s wife on her way inside the home and she had fallen down the stairs during the resulting confusion. Many have argued that the theory is plausible due to evidence such as microscopic owl feathers found in her hand. This song manifested after visualizing the owl attack and subsequent fall down the staircase.” — Swamptooth

Photo credit: Kelly Roetto

LISTEN: Birds of Play, “Not Alone”

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Artist: Birds of Play
Hometown: Ophir, Colorado
Song: “Not Alone”
Album: Murmurations Vol. 1
Release Date: September 3, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Not Alone’ was written in the thick of lockdown, early April 2020. I was sitting down to read a book when I found out that John Prine had died. I put my book down and picked up my guitar and played his songs for a couple hours. Somewhere in the midst of that celebration and mourning this song appeared. I wrote it over the course of that night and the next morning as a bit of a reflection on our shared lot. It feels cathartic to sing and still unfortunately relevant.” — Alex Paul, Birds of Play

Photo credit: Sarah Schwab

LISTEN: Ben Bostick, “Like Old People Do”

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Artist: Ben Bostick
Hometown: Born in Beaufort, South Carolina. Currently resides in Lilburn, Georgia
Song: “Like Old People Do”
Album: Grown Up Love
Release Date: August 20, 2021

In Their Words: “My friend Pam Hobby, a great songwriter herself, came to one of my shows, and we were chatting between sets. She told me that she and her boyfriend had been down in the Keys doing nothing, sitting at the end of the dock on rocking chairs and watching the sunset ‘like old people do.’ My songwriter brain latched onto that phrase and immediately started writing the song. I think I had it mostly written by the time I played my next set. It was a perfect sentiment for my life.

“My wife Cari and I had been rushing around to doctor’s appointments, therapies, pharmacies, going sleepless with a newborn and also our oldest daughter’s Carmela’s terrible sleep disturbances (due to Rett Syndrome), and generally going at a hundred miles an hour. We needed to slow down just to maintain our sanity. We needed to take a page out of the old people’s book of love, and just sit still, saying nothing, holding hands like old people do. Of course taking a vacation to the coast with two babies during COVID wasn’t possible, because of so many different reasons, but this song helped us realize that we needed to take a breath whenever possible.” — Ben Bostick

Photo credit: Carey Hood

LISTEN: Bill Filipiak, “Conesus Lake”

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Artist: Bill Filipiak
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Conesus Lake”
Album: Medicine I Need
Release Date: October 1, 2021

In Their Words: “I don’t think it’s any secret that our lives can quickly become overwhelming. The blues are all around us and can hit us at any time for a multitude of reasons. The past year in particular has been hard on everyone. We’ve all had to deal with unprecedented stress. It’s left so many of us mentally and physically spent. When life becomes overwhelming like that, we all need a place we can go that soothes our soul. For some it’s the beach, for some it’s the mountains, for me it’s Conesus Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in upstate New York.

“Conesus Lake has been an oasis for me for 12 years now, and when I’m struggling with something, that’s where I go to recharge and clear my head. It’s like a baptism, a rebirth, a natural state of solitude that serves as a medicine. In the song, I’m singing about a specific place, but really Conesus Lake is a state of mind — that place you go when you need to look inward, put things behind you and start with a fresh perspective. And when you find that place, it becomes possible to take a piece of it with you, to help you cope with life’s pitfalls until the next time you can return to your own Conesus Lake.” — Bill Filipiak

Photo credit: Kristi Filipiak

LISTEN: Ruby Landen, “Self Help”

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Artist: Ruby Landen
Hometown: Arcata, California; currently Brooklyn, New York
Song: “Self Help”
Album: Martyr, well
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Label: Slang Church

In Their Words: “‘Self Help’ is a song meant to convey the self-indulgent contempt I feel for myself at the lowest of times. Though not really a conscious choice, I find myself often juxtaposing pretty instrumentation and melody with somewhat ugly subject matter. I don’t ever try to make myself seem good in any of my songs, but I do portray most of the people referenced in the record especially badly, and I think in bearing all of my ugly nakedness I’m trying to communicate that I’m no different from any of these people — maybe I’m even worse. It’s by far the most personal and vulnerable song I’ve written, so I’m a little nervous for people to hear it.” — Ruby Landen

Photo credit: Brynn Lewis

LISTEN: Mike Younger, “Killing Time”

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Artist: Mike Younger
Hometown: Halifax, Canada/Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Killing Time”
Album: Burning the Bigtop Down
Release Date: August 27, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Killing Time’ is a sideways glance at another time and the dreams and people of that time. I had survived the Hall Of Horrors which was the street/squatter experience in New York City in 1992/1993 — and I’d lost more than a few pals along the way. The lyrics take comfort in the remembrance of past friendships forged in the fire of struggle, but swept apart like grains of sand. … I’ve always been deeply affected by the struggles faced by our disenfranchised communities. I greatly admire those writers and creative people in general, who, through their work, have lent their voices to the struggle for equity in our society, like John Lennon, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, and others. Artists have nothing to lose by speaking their truth, and doing so unapologetically, especially these days. That’s what I strive for in my work. There are enough great songs about pickup trucks already.” — Mike Younger

Photo credit: Michael Weintraub

LISTEN: Seth Mulder & Midnight Run, “Carolina Line”

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Artist: Seth Mulder & Midnight Run
Hometown: Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Song: “Carolina Line”
Release Date: August 24, 2021
Label: Mountain Fever Records

In Their Words: “We’re so excited for everyone to hear our new single, ‘Carolina Line.’ It features our guitar player Ben Watlington singing lead in a Osborne Brothers-inspired arrangement that we had fun coming up with. Ben really connected with the song vocally and personally and always finds a way to make each song he sings his own. ‘Carolina Line’ was brought to us by our good friend Jerry Salley, and we feel that it represents our various musical influences. We hope everyone enjoys it as much as we enjoyed recording it.” — Seth Mulder

Photo credit: Miranda Goff

LISTEN: The Grascals, “Maybelle”

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Artist: The Grascals
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Maybelle”
Album: Up All Night
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “It’s very rare when looking for a song that you find exactly what you’re looking for. This was the case with ‘Maybelle!’ The song sounds like it came from deep within the mountains. From the haunting words to the clawhammer banjo and fiddle, this song will grab your attention.” — John Bryan, The Grascals

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

LISTEN: The Felice Brothers, “To-Do List”

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Artist: The Felice Brothers
Hometown: Harlemville, New York
Song: “To-Do List”
Album: From Dreams to Dust
Release Date: September 17, 2021
Label: Yep Roc Records

In Their Words: “The take we chose for this song was the first time we had ever played the song. It had a very loose and playful quality that we liked. We had just learned the chord progression five minutes before playing it. We listened back to more takes but this was the one that had the best feeling. The song was originally a slow waltz with the lyrics: ‘Into the fire that burns them/that’s how the idiots run,’ but I didn’t know where to go from there. I had written down a to-do list on the adjacent page and began to sing it and it seemed to work well with the phrasing. I wrote down many pages of ridiculous things and chopped them up into the melody. This is how the song came into being.” — Ian Felice

Photo credit: Shervin Lainez