Tag: Song Premiere

LISTEN: Eilen Jewell, “Green River”

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Artist: Eilen Jewell
Hometown: Boise, Idaho
Song: “Green River”
Album: “Green River”/ “Summertime” 7-inch single
Release Date: July 8, 2020
Label: Signature Sounds

In Their Words: “Every summer for the past twelve years or so, as the Green River Festival in Greenfield, Massachusetts, rolls around, I’ve had Creedence’s song ‘Green River’ stuck in my head. For about as many years I’d wanted to surprise the audience with a rendition of that perfectly summery tune as my homage to the beloved festival, which is presented by Signature Sounds, the label I’ve been happily working with since the beginning of my career. I have so many great memories of that festival over the years: meeting Lucinda Williams for the first time, getting my guitar autographed by Emmylou Harris, being moved to tears by Mavis Staples singing about the Freedom Highway, loving the music in the rain, or in the sun, or the crazy wind, every year having a distinctly amazing experience.

“Last summer the planets aligned just so and my band and I were able to present our version of ‘Green River’ to the Green River Festival on the main stage, and my daughter, part of the next generation of festival goers, was there to witness it. I’m not sure which Green River John Fogerty had in mind when he wrote the tune. I know he did so long before the Green River Festival began, but just as the song is synonymous to me with all things summer, so is that festival. When we recorded the song in August of last year, we would never have believed that the future of that festival, and nearly all festivals, and our own future as touring musicians, would be so imperiled. It’s my hope that the spirit of those free-flowing summer festival days and nights can live on brightly in our hearts and minds, that we can keep that spirit alive until rosier days, and pass the torch to the next generation to keep it lit.” — Eilen Jewell

Photo credit: Joanna Chattman

LISTEN: The Sons of the Soul Revivers, “It Isn’t Safe”

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Artist: The Sons of the Soul Revivers
Hometown: Vallejo, California
Song: “It Isn’t Safe”
Album: Songs We’ll Always Sing: A Tribute to the Pilgrim Jubilees
Release Date: July 12, 2020
Label: Little Village Foundation

In Their Words: “Ever since I heard the album the Pilgrim Jubilees put out in 1973, the title is Don’t Let Him Down, I think I’ve gravitated especially to this song, ‘It Isn’t Safe.’ It was the last song on the ‘B’ side. And Cleve Graham, the leader of the Jubilees, shared with us the premise of that song. They were in Chicago, and Cleve said his brother Clay, who’s no longer with us, may he rest in peace, walked in and had a disgusted look on his face. Walking back from church, he’d seen two men attacking a lady. And Clay said, ‘You know what? It isn’t safe anywhere anymore.’ And he wrote the song.

“The message in it, from 1973 and here we are in 2020, and the message is still on point. The distrust of law enforcement, and law enforcement distrusts the public… we have yet to come to a common ground on how we can get along. I’m hoping and praying that this song will resonate with people in general. The lyric goes, ‘We should treat sin just like dirt, and with the broom of faith we should sweep it aside.’ I love that. It’s the only way we’re going to survive. ‘Do unto others as you would have them do to you, I declare that this is all you have to do. It isn’t safe….'” — James Morgan, The Sons of the Soul Revivers

Photo courtesy of the Sons of the Soul Revivers

LISTEN: Bowregard, “High on a Mountain”

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Artist: Bowregard
Hometown: Boulder, Colorado
Song: “High on a Mountain”
Album: Arrows
Release Date: July 1, 2020

In Their Words: “Bowregard are all big fans of Colorado’s seminal bluegrass band Hot Rize, and love their rendition of Ola Belle Reed’s classic ‘High on a Mountain.’ When Max Kabat (guitar) got inspired to reharmonize a classic bluegrass song, this one seemed like a natural. Max and James Armington (banjo) created a new chord structure that emphasized the lonesomeness and desperation contained in the words of the original song, and put a soaring minor harmony in the chorus that played to the band’s fondness for tight three-part vocals. When it came time to record the track in the studio, things came full circle as producer Nick Forster — bassist and vocalist in Hot Rize — helped the band realize an inspired performance of the arrangement. The result is a haunting new perspective on a beloved standard of the bluegrass repertoire.” — Justin Konrad, Bowregard (resophonic guitar)

Photo credit: Chantelle Hegreness

LISTEN: Bluegrass 2020, “Vanleer” (Feat. Scott Vestal, Patrick McAvinue, Cody Kilby, Dominick Leslie & Curtis Vestal)

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Artist: Bluegrass 2020, featuring Scott Vestal, Patrick McAvinue, Cody Kilby, Dominick Leslie, and Curtis Vestal
Hometown: Greenbrier, Tennessee
Song: “Vanleer”
Album: Bluegrass 2020
Release Date: June 26, 2020
Label: Pinecastle Records

In Their Words: “I wrote this tune around 2004 and had totally forgotten about it until a few weeks before the Bluegrass 2020 session. The name is from the beautiful countryside of Vanleer, TN about an hour and a half west of Nashville where my wife, Alice, grew up. We were married there in the middle of Bear Creek on a gigantic rock. There are caves, creeks, plains, hills, and valleys. The tune has 5 parts with the various instruments weaving in and out of the melodies, much like the landscape of Vanleer.” — Scott Vestal, Bluegrass 2020

LISTEN: Tara Dente, “Hill So Steep”

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Artist: Tara Dente
Hometown: Asbury Park, New Jersey
Song: “Hill So Steep”
Album: Truth in the Mud
Release Date: July 17, 2020
Label: Travianna Records

In Their Words: “‘Hill So Steep’ is about a dream I had. In the dream, I was driving up a hill so steep, I felt like I was climbing the steepest roller coaster with no belt on or bar to hold me in and would just fall out. The dream certainly reflected difficult circumstances happening in my life at the time. I was a server at a popular restaurant in my town and did pretty well in tips that day. As soon as I turned the corner walking to my car after work, I noticed it, as well as a slew of other cars, had been towed. The dollar amount it took to get my car back from the auto shop was the exact amount I had made that day in tips. That night, I had the dream. Sometimes you take a step forward, and then take a step right back. But then another day, you’ll take three steps forward. You just have to hang in there the best you can, and look for the next right thing.” — Tara Dente

Photo credit: Jesse Andrew Photography

LISTEN: Evan Ogden, “These Songs and a Guitar”

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Artist: Evan Ogden
Hometown: Round Rock, Texas
Song: “These Songs and a Guitar”
Album: Undone
Release Date: July 31, 2020

In Their Words: “‘These Songs and a Guitar’ is one of the most personal songs on the album for me. It came at a point where pretty much everything in my life was falling apart. I was having to own up to the fact that the man I wanted to be and the man I was had more differences than similarities.

“There’s a passage in the Bible that weighed heavily on me for about three or four months where Jesus is addressing anxiety and worrying about tomorrow. He tells His disciples to consider the ravens and flowers of the field; He describes God taking care of their needs and claims how much more He will take care of theirs. Faith has always been a central part of my life and this passage set off a season-long struggle to find out how to come to terms with a passion I seldom understand. This song, in a lot of ways, culminates a prayer, or argument I took up with God. I was trying to work through the blessing and curse of having a passion for such an unstable gift. Admittedly, I still struggle a lot with it but this song was very cathartic in a very real sense. I hope this song gives the listener a space to be honest about the struggle we all feel when our blessings are more like anchors than feathers.” — Evan Ogden

Photo credit: Jessica Summerford

LISTEN: Kristen Grainger & True North, “She Flies With Her Own Wings”

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Artist: Kristen Grainger & True North
Hometown: Salem, Oregon
Song: “She Flies With Her Own Wings”
Album: Ghost Tattoo
Release Date: June 19, 2020

In Their Words: “I wrote this for Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (I served for two years as her communications director), as well as Elizabeth Warren, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and every other woman working to make the world better and doing it her own way.” — Kristen Grainger

Photo courtesy of Hearth PR

LISTEN: Monte Warden and the Dangerous Few, “Martini”

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Artist name: Monte Warden and the Dangerous Few
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Martini”
Album: Monte Warden and the Dangerous Few
Release Date: June 19, 2020
Label: Break A Leg Records

In Their Words: “As we first started playing shows, new fans would come up and enthusiastically ask, ‘What do you call this music?!’ We described is as ‘martini music.’ My wife Brandi suggested we write a big, fun up-tempo ode to the martini, so we rode over to Floyd Domino’s house and all did our best to just get the hell outta this song’s way. It’s one of those rare little gems that seemed to write itself. That line ‘country club mosquitoes’ had us all goin’ nuts. I can count on this song to always deliver a musical shovel-to-the-face at any gig.” — Monte Warden

Photo credit: Sean Mathis

LISTEN: Philippe Bronchtein, “I’ll Let the Steel Do the Crying”

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Artist: Philippe Bronchtein
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “I’ll Let the Steel Do the Crying”
Release Date: June 5th, 2020

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘I’ll Let the Steel Do the Crying’ shortly after relocating to Nashville. I was putting in marathon practice sessions on my steel guitar, so it was always on my mind. While commiserating on the phone with an old friend, I made the joke in passing that I didn’t have to cry as long as I had my pedal steel to do it for me. He lit up and said, ‘That’s a song.’ I finished writing it that night. It features my good friend Asa Brosius on the pedal steel.” — Philippe Bronchtein

Philippe Bronchtein · I’ll Let The Steel Do The Crying

Photo credit: Monica Murray

LISTEN: Cold Chocolate, “Gone”

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Artist: Cold Chocolate
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Gone”
Album: Down the Line
Release Date: June 26, 2020

In Their Words: “‘Gone’ was the last track we wrote for the album and will be the final track on it. Of all the songs off the new record it actually has the most similar of a vibe to our previous recordings, tapping into that high-energy bluegrass feel that we love. But we really ended up fusing a lot of genres within this short song, stretching from bluegrass and hillbilly country to disco funk. The song started out in rehearsals as an upbeat country groove with some simple, cheeky lyrics, and we immediately gravitated toward its playfulness. When we brought it into the studio, Sam Kassirer, who played keys on the record, threw this cool gospel organ on top which heightened the intrigue of the song tenfold. We’re delighted by how it all came together and psyched for its release!” — Ethan Robbins and Ariel Bernstein, Cold Chocolate

Cold Chocolate · Gone

Photo courtesy of Cold Chocolate