Tag: Song Premiere

LISTEN: 3 Pairs of Boots, “Gone South”

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Artist: 3 Pairs of Boots
Hometown: San Francisco, California
Track: “Gone South”
Album: Gone South
Release Date: July 12, 2019
Label: Dark Country Music

In Their Words: “The overall idea of the song comes from how so many people feel about work and life in general. They work so hard, give it their all, trying to get ahead, and for a variety of reasons and circumstances instead find themselves back where they started the next day, no further along than the previous day. That coupled with the belief in their dreams of what they thought they were destined for, something better, makes the reality of where then ended up hit hard and make them wonder how it all went south… As the song relates, Sisyphus was condemned to roll the boulder up the hill all day, only to find it at the bottom of the hill the next day.” — Andrew Stern, 3 Pairs of Boots

Photo credit: Vinny Cancilliere

LISTEN: Delbert McClinton and Self-Made Men + Dana, “Gone to Mexico”

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Artist: Delbert McClinton and Self-Made Men + Dana
Hometown: Lubbock, Texas
Song: “Gone to Mexico”
Album: Tall, Dark, & Handsome
Release Date: July 26, 2019
Label: Hot Shot Records/Thirty Tigers

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Gone to Mexico’ several years ago, and my son Clay recorded it on a record he did. I had never done it, so I thought I’d do it on this record. Jim Hoke put the horn arrangements on it — the saxophones — and just made it explode.” — Delbert McClinton

Photo credit: Jeremy Fetzer

LISTEN: Chris Gantry, “Wasted”

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Artist: Chris Gantry
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Wasted”
Album: Nashlantis
Release Date: July 27, 2019
Label: Drag City

In Their Words: “‘Wasted’ is the epiphany of an older man who has weathered the storm and is still standing, while paying homage to those who helped get him through the ordeals and tribulations of life. It’s a thank you and tribute to the unseen spirits that be that have protected and guided him. Having lived as long as he has, he is aware that the piper could show up anytime and tap him on the shoulder to go home — which he is at peace with and ready, should the moment arise.

“I usually do a more visceral version of this song, kinda channeling a little of Tom Waits. When I recorded it my producer, Jerry DeCicca, asked me to pull it back and soften it a bit, which I did. I was so used to doing it the other way that it took me about three takes to get it the way he’d asked me to. Also, it’s a song I always play harmonica on, which I didn’t do. So, that took some adjusting. All and all it was smooth as butter.” — Chris Gantry

Photo credit: Gabe McCurdy

LISTEN: Will Beeley, “Been a Drifter”

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Artist: Will Beeley
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
Song: “Been a Drifter”
Album: Highways & Heart Attacks
Label: Tompkins Square

In Their Words: “I wrote this with an old friend of mine named Bob Smith. Bob did extra work in the movies back in the ’50s, mainly Westerns. We were comparing our life stories and decided we were both graduates from the school of hard knocks. As I remember, the song pretty much wrote itself.” — Will Beeley

Photo credit: Jesse Fisher

LISTEN: Matt Harlan, “K&W”

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Artist: Matt Harlan
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Song: “K&W” (featuring Kelley Mickwee)
Album: Best Beasts
Release Date: July 12, 2019
Label: Eight 30 Records

In Their Words: “‘K&W’ is about two addict truck drivers in a relationship. One’s a drinker and one’s into heavier stuff. Whatever your poison, it can be easy to settle into self-destructive behavior when you’re traveling all the time and missing home and each other. Theirs is a modern day Romeo and Juliet tale. Boy meets girl and falls in love, but it’s their jobs and habits keeping them apart instead of their families. He assumes the worst about her before she can truly break his heart herself and ends it all.” — Matt Harlan

Photo credit: Brian T. Atkinson

LISTEN: Jesse Terry & Alex Wong, “Landfall”

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Artists: Jesse Terry & Alex Wong
Hometown: Stonington, Connecticut (Jesse); Nashville, TN (Alex)
Song: “Landfall”
Album: Kivalina
Release Date: June 14, 2019 (single); September 2019 (Kivalina EP)

In Their Words: “When we set out to tell this story, we wanted people who listened to the album from beginning to end to feel like they were watching a movie… and we wanted ‘Landfall’ to feel like our establishing shot… As a song, it’s a birds eye view of our own introduction to the story of the village of Kivalina and how climate change was affecting so many in their situation. The chorus came out of our own ignorance of the scope of the issue… who would believe such a crazy thing could be happening right now?” — Alex Wong

Photo credit: Jess Terry

LISTEN: Zoe & Cloyd, “Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down”

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Artist: Zoe & Cloyd
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down”
Album: I Am Your Neighbor
Release Date: June 14, 2019 (single); Fall 2019 (album)
Label: Organic Records

In Their Words: “‘Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down’ is a traditional African American spiritual that we learned from a solo field recording of Frank Proffitt from 1965. Proffitt claimed to have learned the song from a black banjo player named Dave Thompson, also from the Sugar Grove area of northwestern North Carolina. It is a simple yet powerful musical statement, and Natalya’s stark, solo vocal mirrors the sound of many old-time source recordings that we love. The lyrics are haunting and hypnotic and our version features flat-picked guitar and bowed upright bass coupled with the more ‘old-time’ elements of cross-tuned fiddle and clawhammer banjo. There is a timelessness to this song that contributes to its survival. Every generation has its Satan. — John Cloyd Miller

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

LISTEN: Ariana Gillis, “The Maze”

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Artist: Ariana Gillis
Hometown: Vineland, Ontario, Canada
Song: “The Maze”
Album: The Maze
Release Date: June 14, 2019

In Their Words: “‘The Maze’ is based upon the Greek myth of the Minotaur in the labyrinth. The hero, Theseus, needs to find his way back out and he does so with the help of a ball of thread. The song deals with the questions, ‘What are we most afraid of? Are these fears real or are they just imagined?’ The ribbon in the song is the thread that guides us through dark and frightening times in our lives. By facing our fears head-on we develop a strength and courage that we never had before.That’s what ‘The Maze’ means to me.” — Ariana Gillis

Photo credit: David Gillis

LISTEN: Breaking Grass, “Old Pharr Mounds”

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Artist: Breaking Grass
Hometown: Booneville, Mississippi
Song: “Old Pharr Mounds”
Album: COLD
Release Date: June 21, 2019
Label: Mountain Fever Records

In Their Words: “‘Old Pharr Mounds’ was written about a large group of Native American burial mounds near my home in Northeast Mississippi. It’s rumored that this area is home to a Bigfoot-like creature that has been seen in the joining slough. I’ve been told about it all my life, and to my knowledge, film crews and college groups have even visited trying to capture video and sound recordings of it. It’s our local legend and makes for a fun story. I hope you all enjoy ‘Old Pharr Mounds.'” — Cody Farrar, Breaking Grass

Photo credit: Kady Carter Photography

LISTEN: Clare Bowen, “Tide Rolls In”

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Artist: Clare Bowen
Hometown: South Coast, New South Wales, Australia
Song: “Tide Rolls In” (featuring Buddy Miller)
Album: Clare Bowen
Release Date: July 12, 2019
Label: BMG

In Their Words: “‘Tide Rolls In’ is about people and things that seemed like a good idea at the time. We’ve all put our love in the wrong place at some point — my romantic career before I met my sweet, wonderful husband Brandon was a proverbial train wreck, with napalm on top. Brandon and I have the most incredible love story that people ask me about all the time, and I want everyone to know that we didn’t just find each other immediately. It started with self love, for both of us. If you’ve made dreadful romantic choices in the past, you’re not damaged goods, like I thought I was — you are a beautiful, unique creature who deserves to be loved so very much. Especially by your own heart.” — Clare Bowen

Photo Courtesy of Activist Artist Management