Tag: stream

STREAM: Clay Parker & Jodi James, ‘Your Very Own Dream’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Clay Parker & Jodi James
Hometown: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Album: Your Very Own Dream
Release Date: January 19, 2024

In Their Words: “We set out to make this record in early 2020, but things got a bit trivial then. However, we came out of the pandemic with some new ideas on how to approach these songs. Exploring the dynamics of two electric guitars sitting together against starkness was an exciting exploration for us and capturing that became our new focus. As for the songs, we didn’t really lean on any notions of genre; the stories themselves aren’t strictly linear. There are moments of bitter tenderness and some of flat-out absurdity – these songs are from those crossroads. Your Very Own Dream is equal parts plaintive folk existentialism, blue-note bluster, prairie-fire idealism, and fever dream ballad. It’s a raw representation of us searching for and finding a new sound.” – Clay Parker & Jodi James

Photo Credit: Michael Tucker

STREAM: Ira Wolf, ‘Rock Bottom’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Ira Wolf
Hometown: Montana
Album: Rock Bottom
Release Date: October 13, 2023
Label: Nettwerk Music Group

In Their Words: “When I began writing Rock Bottom, over a year had passed since the onset of the pandemic. Every piece of my life had been affected. It felt like I had lost everything that once gave my existence meaning: My career as a touring musician, my nomadic way of life, my passion, my sense of community, and finally, my person. I was alone for the first time in almost five years after calling off my wedding and leaving an unhealthy relationship that had wreaked havoc on my mental health. As I sat by myself in the van amidst the red rocks of the Utah desert, I couldn’t fathom how things could deteriorate further from where they stood, amidst the depths of sorrow that paradoxically offered some solace. ‘If this is rock bottom, at least I’m on solid ground,’ I mused, finding a semblance of stability in the sentiment. I knew healing would take time, and writing and recording these songs helped me process an immense amount of grief in the way I needed – slowly, viscerally. It helped me feel everything, say everything, forgive everything, and in doing so it helped me find a way back to myself.” – Ira Wolf

Photo Credit: Kendall Rock

STREAM: Victoria Bailey, ‘A Cowgirl Rides On’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Victoria Bailey
Hometown: Orange County, California
Album: A Cowgirl Rides On
Release Date: October 6, 2023
Label: Rock Ridge Music

In Their Words: “A Cowgirl Rides On is my most vulnerable and honest piece to date. I am so proud of this record and of everyone who brought it to life. It started with a few heartbreak songs and a few gospel songs and it turned into an intertwined piece of those two things exactly: An unexpected breakup and what I grasped onto to get me through, my faith and the Gospel. I wanted this record to feel as raw as the songs felt to write, so we went into the studio and recorded live with a string band, all in one room together, and everyone poured a lot of love into each recording. You can hear it so clearly listening to the record. It’s perfect-imperfections, and just some good ol’ classic country storytelling. I can‘t even envision this project coming to life without my good friend and producer of the record, Brian Whelan (also a co-writer on a few of the tracks). I hope this record takes listeners to a good–feeling place – some sort of western, bluegrass dream – and brings them comfort even in the slightest way. Enjoy.” – Victoria Bailey

Photo Credit: Stefanie Lee Johnson

STREAM: P.J.M. Bond, ‘In Our Time’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: P.J.M. Bond
Hometown: Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Album: In Our Time
Release Date: October 6, 2023
Label: Concerto Records

In Their Words: “In Our Time is an interdisciplinary indie-folk album based entirely on Ernest Hemingway’s short-story collection from 1925. While obtaining my Literary Studies MA at the University of Amsterdam, I started to dream of making a record based on a work of literature. Lightning struck when I reread Hemingway’s In Our Time and discovered a musical potential that had never been unearthed before: there’s nature and bullfights, the unspoken horrors of war, beauty beside chaos, fire and rain, and just so much youthful exuberance contained in Hemingway’s writing. And so I locked myself in a log cabin to write and record the songs, one for each of the stories from Hemingway’s marvelous work of fiction. I am extremely proud of my own In Our Time, and I am convinced that lovers of both Americana and American literature may rejoice and appreciate this album. Listen to it on a long hike, or drive, or on a rainy Autumn day over a cup of tea (or glass of whisky).” – P.J.M. Bond

Photo Credit: Nadia Morsink

STREAM: Listening Party, ‘Been a Long Time Comin’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Listening Party
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Album: Been a Long Time Comin’
Release Date: August 25, 2023

In Their Words: “Been a Long Time Comin’ is a collection of experiences and stories gathered over the last five years that have been immersed in the styles of folk, Americana and country. Representing the people, the places and the roads traveled, the songs display our personal growth as we entered our 30s and had to start confronting some of the hurdles that life tossed our way. The goal was to approach a few of these issues with a light-hearted storytelling voice so they didn’t have to seem so daunting, while hopefully leaving some room for the listener to feel hope and redemption. We did our best to acknowledge life’s trials, but also celebrate the positivity that the long journey has to offer. For us, Been a Long Time Comin’ will always be a polaroid of a time in our lives when we relied and leaned on each other to get by.” – Listening Party

Photo Credit: Jessica Kaminski

STREAM: Rachael Sage, ‘The Other Side’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Rachael Sage
Hometown: Hudson Valley, New York
Album: The Other Side
Release Date: July 21, 2023
Label: MPress Records

In Their Words: “The Other Side is my 15th album and yet, in some ways, it felt like I was starting all over again with this particular collection of songs and recordings. After we were all emerging from lockdown, I noticed there was such an intense awareness that nothing would ever be quite the same, but nor should it be. As a songwriter, how do you chronicle a time of so much loss, but also so much gratitude – just to still be able to live, anticipating all that you will see, do, and experience once you’re able to move freely, beyond a time of immediate crisis?

“My goal in creating this record was to channel a kind of zealousness and to transcend limitations, which we had all largely become accustomed during the pandemic – and, in so doing, to reignite hope. How does music and creative expression in general help us get back to the business of living, with renewed joy, courage, appreciation and even idealism? The dozen originals on the album all circle the theme of transcendence in some way, as do the handful of covers I selected. Yearning, forgiveness, breathing itself – only human beings can thoroughly understand the miracle it is to do all of these with reverence and uplift, after enduring trauma. I hope when people listen they hear not only my voice, but the echoes of refrains so many of us clung to over the last several years: Hopes and imaginings that kept us going, and family and friends, who we were reminded the hard way are the most precious legacy anyone can create in this lifetime.” – Rachael Sage

Photo Credit: Bill Bernstein

STREAM: The Wild Feathers, ‘Medium Rarities’

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Wild Feathers
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Album: Medium Rarities
Release Date: November 20, 2020

In Their Words: “Medium Rarities is a group of songs that we’ve always loved, but just kinda fell through the cracks when it came to sequencing each record. We wrote and recorded some new songs and had some fun doing some covers of tunes we’ve always loved. Putting new music out into the world is always a great and strange feeling. We’re so proud of it and can’t wait for people to hear them.” — Ricky Young, The Wild Feathers

Photo credit: Rachel Moore

STREAM: Heather Styka, ‘North’

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Heather Styka
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Album: North
Release Date: May 18, 2018

In Their Words: “I was moving back to Chicago while touring a ton, and the 2016 election had created such a bizarre, divisive climate. I was lost. I wrote this album to ask, ‘What now?’ and also to answer that question, as an individual and a citizen. We had so much fun recording with the Sentimentals that the album evolved into this semi-political, tearjerker dance party.” — Heather Styka