Tag: Song Premiere

LISTEN: Jason Davis, “Modern Day Jezebel” (Feat. Dan Tyminski)

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Artist: Jason Davis
Hometown: Galax, Virginia
Song: “Modern Day Jezebel” (Feat. Dan Tyminski)
Release Date: April 13, 2021
Label: Mountain Fever Records

In Their Words: “I first got the demo of this tune four or five years ago from Daniel Salyer. I loved it the first time I heard it and knew I’d like to cut it for my next record. Luckily, nobody had put it out in the meantime. To me it’s a great modern bluegrass tune. I think it’s a cool way of telling the story of a love gone wrong and I really liked the chord progression and melody. Dan played guitar on the session and I was especially excited when he wanted to sing it. It was an honor to get to track with all the guys (and gal). They really knocked it out of the park on this one. They killed it!” — Jason Davis

Photo credit: Donn Jones

LISTEN: The Shootouts, “Saturday Night Town”

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Artist: The Shootouts
Hometown: Northeast Ohio
Song: “Saturday Night Town”
Album: Bullseye
Release Date: April 30, 2021
Label: Soundly Music

In Their Words: “It was inspired by a book I read about a historic small town in Ohio. Throughout the book there were stories of fun-loving locals who would cut loose at the end of a long week, referring to it as a ‘Saturday Night Town.’ I instantly knew that was meant to be a song title. We all come from, or know someone who comes from, a small town like this. Even if they end up leaving, it’s hard to get that out of your blood. I think we can all relate to a much-needed break at the end of a long week, no matter what town you call home.

“That same book inspired another track called ‘Rattlesnake Whiskey,’ which is also on Bullseye. Both of those songs were written in 2015, before The Shootouts began. They were some of the first original songs we performed live, and they quickly became fan favorites. They didn’t quite fit with the batch of tunes that became our debut album, Quick Draw, but they definitely felt like a perfect fit for Bullseye. Luckily, Chuck [Mead, producer] thought so too. I think we got the definitive versions, and I’m glad we finally got to record them both.

“Fun fact: We end almost every show with ‘Saturday Night Town’ and have almost since the inception of the band. It really allows the band to stretch out a bit and trade some tasty licks.” — Ryan Humbert, The Shootouts

Photo credit: Jamie Escola

LISTEN: Stephen Flatt, “White County Shine”

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Artist: Stephen Flatt
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “White County Shine”
Album: Cumberland Bones
Release Date: April 16, 2021
Label: Flatt Family Music

In Their Words: “My grandparents and great-grandparents resided in White County, Tennessee, specifically Sparta. My great-uncle Lester Flatt and his family also lived in White County/Sparta, not far from my great-grandparents (his brother and sister-in-law). They were a close family and often worked odd jobs together, like working at the sawmill, before Lester struck out as a musician. I doubt Lester was involved in any of the moonshine activities that might have occurred on my side of the family tree, so I’d hate to drag his name into that. Lester was a staunch teetotaler, probably partly due to witnessing the effects of alcohol on friends and family members.

“Although ‘White County Shine’ is a semi-fictional account, it is a very real reflection of my family, my grandfather, the very real mountain moonshine culture, and the potential byproducts that come along with that dark spot of the mountain lifestyle. When the song says, ‘He lost all his money, but he never lost his high,’ that’s real and raw and it’s about my grandfather. I would venture to say that although the song is upbeat and jovial, it probably brings up some bad scars for my dad and my uncles when they hear it. I thought about this as really a generational thing, with generational impacts.

“I went camping with my cousin once on Bon Air Mountain, and he brought a jar of moonshine. When he woke up the next morning, he took a big pull off the shine and exclaimed, ‘You gotta have a shot before breakfast!’ Later, I wrote ‘White County Shine’ with the lyric ‘a shot before breakfast will always do you right’ in the chorus. This song features some of my friends and bluegrass greats, with Charlie Cushman on banjo, Deanie Richardson on fiddle, Justin Clark on mandolin, Steve Hinson on Dobro, Kenny Vaughan on the flattop, and Ronnie Bowman adding some amazing harmony. The song is a fun and entertaining romp!” – Stephen Flatt

Photo credit: Flatt Family Music

LISTEN: Acoustic Syndicate, “Sunny”

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Artist: Acoustic Syndicate
Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina
Song: “Sunny”
Release Date: April 9, 2021
Label: Organic Records

In Their Words: “‘Sunny’ is one of those things that’s been on my ‘list of things to finish’ for quite some time. Based on an idea for a short story that I was working on some years ago, it’s a discussion about love, coping with loss, hope, and ultimately, redemption. I’ve been carrying that melody around in my head for years and finally got lucky enough to find the right words to go with it. The tune was one that I was kinda holding in reserve for a possible solo project at some point. After putting it together and sharing with the other fellas, they were all in to record it. The piano (Brian Felix) and violin (Lyndsay Pruett) were part of the original idea, and it was such a pleasure to watch it materialize in the studio on a super solid track by Fitz, Bryon, and Jay. Being back in the studio after seven years has been a real treat. I love the process of recording, and I have missed it very much. Our engineer, Clay Miller, is a ‘steely eyed missile man’ and has the patience of Job! He makes the recording process an absolute joy. I’m so grateful and honored to be making new music with these dudes again.” — Steve McMurry, Acoustic Syndicate

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

LISTEN: Chris Cain, “Can’t Find a Good Reason”

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Artist: Chris Cain
Hometown: San Jose, California
Song: “Can’t Find a Good Reason”
Album: Raisin’ Cain
Release Date: April 9, 2021
Label: Alligator Records

In Their Words: “We recorded the Raisin’ Cain album at Kid Andersen’s Greaseland studio and I just had the changes to this song. Before we left Greaseland I said, ‘We’ll just record this one real fast and we’ll see what I can do with it later.’ Greg Rahn (keys) said, ‘Does this have a bridge?’ It didn’t, yet, so I just made one up real quick. We recorded the music to it and I added the intro to it that it has on there. When I got home I wrote the lyric based on personal stuff that you just store up in your mind and recorded the vocals the next day at Greaseland. Kid and I were in there and I added the vocals with the lyric I just wrote. I get to the part that goes ‘It really is nobody’s fault, we both tried hard to make it, but as hard as we try, we end up having to fake it.’ There’s a big blank spot right there and I told Kid, ‘Wait, I gotta write more words to it.’ Kid said, ‘Why don’t you just put whoa whoa whoa whoa, right there.’ I did and that’s how it turned out. I really wasn’t just trying to fake it.” — Chris Cain

Photo credit: Marilyn Stringer

LISTEN: The Pink Stones, “Put Me On”

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Artist: The Pink Stones
Hometown: Athens, Georgia
Song: “Put Me On”
Album: Introducing…The Pink Stones
Release Date: April 6, 2021
Label: Normaltown Records

In Their Words: “‘Put Me On’ is a song I wrote a little while back, but it’s still a tune that I love a lot. It’s a pretty straightforward country tune about making yourself sick over someone, trying to get to them, and then realizing that all the signs had really been telling you to turn around and go the other way the whole time. We had some fun with this one in the studio, too. Used some groovy amps, had our buddy Jessica Thompson come in sing with me, and Wandy really got to have some fun on the B3.” — Hunter Pinkston, The Pink Stones

Photo credit: Taylor Chmura

LISTEN: The Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band, “I’ll Pick You Up”

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Artist: The Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Hometown: Nashville, Indiana
Song: “I’ll Pick You Up”
Album: Dance Songs for Hard Times
Release Date: April 9, 2021
Label: Thirty Tigers

In Their Words: “Well, this song goes out to anyone that drives or has ever driven a POS car. Of all of the songs on the record, this one probably has the most ‘rural’ subject matter, but it’s the most complicated in its vocal layers, and in my mind I wanted to layer it like a Stax records song from the ’60s. It starts with my thumb on the bass, and I wanted my slide guitar and my harmonica to come in together like a horn section. Breezy and Max worked really hard to get the strange vocal layering I came up with to really work in the choruses. And the beat that Max plays is straight ’60s R&B.” — Rev. Peyton

Photo credit: Tyler Zoller

LISTEN: Sinner Friends, “Unforgivable You”

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Artist: Sinner Friends (Grace van’t Hof and Conner Vlietstra)
Hometown: Detroit, Michigan; Johnson City, Tennessee
Song: “Unforgivable You”
Album: Sinner Friends Miss You (The Quarantine EP)
Release Date: April 1, 2021
Label: Bigtone Records

In Their Words: “When Sinner Friends cut bluegrass, we do it like our heroes did: everyone is in one space, there are no separate vocal tracks, we don’t overdub solos, and the result is a snapshot of one vital moment. Like Page Ross’ lyrics, ‘Unforgivable You’ is raw and compelling. It weaves the messy web of a breakup followed by a one-sided attempt at reconciliation which, by the end, has the listener questioning the boundaries of the narrator’s tenacity. It’s clear that our protagonist has turned antagonist and his love interest would “rather that [he] stay away.” Sentimentality swirled with confusing choices is Sinner Friends’ favorite flavor, and this song is a savory example. We were privileged to be joined on this session at Bigtone Records by Josiah Nelson on fiddle and Max Etling on bass.” — Grace van’t Hof and Conner Vlietstra, Sinner Friends

Photo credit: Billie Wheeler

LISTEN: Korby Lenker, “All in My Head”

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Artist: Korby Lenker
Hometown: East Nashville
Song: “All in My Head”
Album: Man in the Maroon
Release Date: May 21, 2021
Label: Grind Ethos

In Their Words: “‘All in My Head’ is the first track on my 8th studio album, Man in the Maroon. It’s about a depressed person who entertains the idea that maybe there’s a different perspective out there. I wrote it last spring over several nights while jogging through my neighborhood in East Nashville. The outings happened to coincide with the Nashville 8 o’clock howl, a typically quirky East Nash neo-tradition where for the first several months of the pandemic, people would stand out on their porch every night at 8 and just go crazy. I heard the howling, in the distance mostly, before I ever knew what it was, and after a few nights, I started joining in. Just yelling at the top of my lungs. Purging that threatening despair that seemed to be everywhere, inside and out. Later, when I was recording the song, I posted on social media, asking if anyone knew who started it. In no time I was sitting over coffee with the founder herself. She put me in touch with some of the howlers… if you listen closely, after the bridge you can hear a few of the more choice examples of the East Nashville 8 o’clock howl.” — Korby Lenker

https://soundcloud.com/user-747568408/all-in-my-head/s-Hjv7RcuUYYF?in=user-747568408/sets/man-in-the-maroon//s-0dkClBhP9E3

Photo credit: David McClister

WATCH: Johnny Chops, “Trouble with the Truth”

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Artist: Johnny Chops
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Trouble with the Truth”
Release Date: April 2, 2021 (Single)
Album: Yours, Mine and the Truth EP
Label: Johnny Chops Music

In Their Words: “One September morning in 2019, I got up early, before the dogs or my wife were awake, grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down in my writing room. This song fell out of the sky into my lap and was basically written in about an hour. It’s a departure from most of my material and some of the ‘songwriting rules’ I usually stick with. It isn’t a sing-along or an anthem, but more of a lament. I think of it as a sad little poem. Aside from my vocals and acoustic guitar, the rest of the track is producer and multi-instrumentalist David Abeyta. He put a lovely finish and a beautiful solo on this song.

“While I was writing the video treatment, I wanted to lean in to that lonely feeling by filming in some dark and bleak locations. I came across these dramatic spaces by researching abandoned buildings on YouTube and was lucky enough to contact the property owners through the Mineral Wells Chamber of Commerce and get their permission to film. The video wouldn’t have the same visual depth or resonance without their assistance and patience. I also have to give some extra credit to the camera expertise of my DP, Brian Monnone (Big Flavor Films) for helping to capture the atmosphere of the song, as well as braving some structurally questionable locations. Creating this story has been an exciting exploration into videography, film and screenwriting. I have been telling tales through song for almost 20 years, so it’s an exciting next chapter that I hope to pursue more in the future.” — Johnny Chops

Photo credit: Brandon Aguilar