Tag: string band

WATCH: Hildaland, “Trains/Fin’s”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Hildaland
Hometown: Portland, Maine
Song: “Trains/Fin’s”
Album: Sule Skerry
Release Date: September 26, 2023 (single); November 3, 2023 (album)
Label: Adhyâropa Records

In Their Words: “This set is comprised of ‘Trains’ by Ethan Setiawan and ‘Fin’s Foley’ by Louise Bichan. We decided these tunes would fit well together as they’re both in three parts, and both about movement. It was an honor to get the great Neil Pearlman on the track on keyboard as well. Ethan says of the first tune, ‘”Trains” was written during some discussion with the great harpist Maeve Gilchrist about hornpipes. I tried to integrate some of the stylistic ups and downs, using arpeggios to create a melody rather than something linear.’ And Louise wrote “Fin’s Foley” for her brother, after a wheel mishap. I had forgotten all about the unofficial title until I came across the original sheet music while rummaging through things at my folks’ house: Rover’s Revenge!'” – Hildaland

Photo Credit: Louise Bichan

LISTEN: Jesse Smathers, “Sing Darling Sing”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Jesse Smathers
Hometown: Floyd, Virginia
Song: “Sing Darling Sing”
Release Date: September 22, 2023

In Their Words: “I believe that simple melodies and simple stories relate across generations and all walks of life. That’s the true beauty of string music: its relatability. This song was composed with that aspiration.

“Being raised in piedmont North Carolina, family roots in Western Carolina, and now living in Southwest Virginia, string music always surrounded me and the tunes that always struck a chord were the fun melodic tunes, and happy songs. ‘Sing Darling Sing’ is just that, a happy tune with a loving story.

“I am so very proud of this recording, musically and personally, for it draws inspiration from my own marriage as well as relationship examples I see set by older generations. I hope the music and imagery takes the listener to a simpler and scenic time when life didn’t move as fast, and communication wasn’t at our fingertips. However, the young man in the tale is chomping at the bit to marry the girl of his dreams, the day can’t come quick enough and nothing’s gonna stop him!” – Jesse Smathers

Track Credits: 
Jesse Smathers – Guitar/ Lead Vocal
Nick Goad – Mandolin/ Harmony Vocal
Corbin Hayslett – Banjo
Hunter Berry – Fiddle
Joe Hannabach – Bass

Photo Credit: Laci Mack

WATCH: Golden Shoals, “Bitter”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Golden Shoals
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee / Vancouver, B.C.
Song: “Bitter”
Release Date: September 13, 2023

In Their Words: “This song, co-written by myself and Rachel Baiman, is a culmination of the frustrations I felt being a musician during the pandemic. Our jobs were the first to go and the clunkiest to return to full capacity. Performance opportunities are back, but the struggle of sustaining a career continues to weigh heavy on all artists alike. Obviously Spotify is mentioned in this song, and I even call out the media machine and the ‘pay to play’ nature of PR campaigns. We both connected to this song so much that Rachel even recorded a brooding version on her newest album, Common Nation of Sorrow. Our livelier version features banjo, baritone guitar and pedal steel.” – Amy Alvey

Track Credits: Produced by Thomas Bryan Eaton and Golden Shoals

Amy Alvey – acoustic guitar, vocals, harmonies
Mark Kilianski – banjo, harmony vocals
Thomas Bryan Eaton – piano, pedal steel, baritone guitar
Jamie Dick – drums
Miss Tess – bass

Photo Credit: Kaitlyn Raitz
Video Credit: Trent Freeman

LISTEN: Missy Raines & Allegheny, “Fast Moving Train”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Missy Raines & Allegheny
Hometown: Short Gap, West Virginia
Song: “Fast Moving Train”
Album: Highlander
Release Date: September 22, 2023
Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “Train songs have long been a staple in bluegrass music and finding a good one – that sounds like it could have been around since Jimmie Rodgers’ day, but is actually new – is a rare gem. ‘Fast Moving Train’ is exactly that kind of song. It describes the lure of life as a traveler and the unrelenting longing to see what’s on the other side. It’s all about the journey and not so much about the destination — with the hope that you’re ‘gonna ride these blues away.’

“The song was written by the extraordinary, multi-talented Shad Cobb. I first heard it while I was playing in the Helen Highwater Stringband with Shad, David Grier and Mike Compton a few years back. I tucked it away in my mind as one of those songs I knew I wanted to sing one day and waited for the right time to bring it to life. That time is now! It came together so naturally with this band that it immediately fell into regular rotation on our setlist. We’re so excited to share it with everyone.” – Missy Raines

Photo Credit: Stacie Huckeba

LISTEN: Kathy Kallick Band, “Just Lonesome Ol’ Me & the Radio”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Kathy Kallick Band
Hometown: San Francisco Bay Area, California
Song: “Just Lonesome Ol’ Me & the Radio”
Album: The Lonesome Chronicles
Release Date: September 19, 2023 (single); October 17, 2023 (album)
Label: Live Oak Records

In Their Words: “People of different ages will feel their engagement with radio in different ways. As part of a family gathered around the radio for a specific show, as a teenager listening to a transistor radio under their pillow, as a traveler on a long car trip with the radio tuned in to whatever signal it can find, or as a listener with that favorite show tuned in on a laptop from anywhere in the world, the radio means connection. In that bizarre time of lockdown, we all looked for ways to ‘be’ with other people, and a dear friend and I started having a listening date, tuning in to the same radio show from our separate places, and commenting to each other via email, text, or calling on the phone. It made us feel like we were having a little party!” – Kathy Kallick

Track Credits:
Kathy Kallick: composer, lead vocal, guitar
Annie Staninec: tenor vocal, fiddle
Greg Booth: baritone vocal, dobro
Tom Bekeny: mandolin
Cary Black: bass

Photo Credit: Anne Hamersky

LISTEN: The Fretliners, “Purple Flowers”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: The Fretliners
Hometown: Lyons, Colorado
Song: “Purple Flowers”
Album: The Fretliners
Release Date: September 29, 2023

In Their Words: “We’re very excited to release this music into the world and hope people enjoy it. Tom [Knowlton] and I wrote this song when each of us were dealing with the hardships of a long distance relationship. The dilemma between balancing love and pursuing a career in music. It was our first co-write together and an early addition to our live show. Sam [Parks] and Dan [Andree] really helped us bring the whole thing together on record.” – Taylor Shuck, bassist

Track Credits: Written by Taylor Shuck and Tom Knowlton
Produced by Sally Van Meter
Engineered by Eric Wiggs
Recorded at Vermillion Road Studio in Longmont, Colorado
Mastered by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering

Photo Credit: Elliot Siff

Track Credits: Written by Taylor Shuck and Tom Knowlton
Produced by Sally Van Meter
Engineered by Eric Wiggs
Recorded at Vermillion Road Studio in Longmont, Colorado
Mastered by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering

WATCH: Jim Lauderdale & the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, “Drop the Hammer Down”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Jim Lauderdale and The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
Song: “Drop the Hammer Down”
Album: The Long and Lonesome Letting Go
Release Date: September 15, 2023
Label: Sky Crunch

In Their Words: “The first place I heard The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys and got to sit in with them was at MerleFest a few years back.  Now we have come full circle with an album together and a song that Josh Rinkel and I wrote called ‘Drop the Hammer Down.’ Here is the first time we performed it, last spring at MerleFest.” – Jim Lauderdale

Photo Credit: Jim Lauderdale by Scott Simontacchi; the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys by Amy Richmond.

LISTEN: Kristen Grainger & True North, “Across the Mountains”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Kristen Grainger & True North
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Song: “Across the Mountains”
Album: Fear of Falling Stars
Release Date: November 10, 2023

In Their Words: “‘Across the Mountains’ started as a banjo riff, a total earworm Dan [Wetzel] kept playing on this five-string, open-back banjo he built. Dan calls it a ‘mountain banjo,’ it’s got a wood ring instead of metal, sounds really organic and cool. He dubbed the tune ‘Across the Mountains,’ a haunting modal progression that just begs for a dark tale to go along with it. So I crafted a melody and lyrics to ride along the currents of the tune, unfolding a story about a woman seeking refuge in the mountains after getting revenge on her cruel and unfaithful lover.

“In true ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’ style, she sets the house on fire after he leaves her, then makes a run for it. I love story songs, but traditionally, women who are the subject of a bluegrass tune have not fared well (‘Banks of the Ohio,’ ‘Pretty Polly,’ ‘Knoxville Girl,’ etc. It’s a long and tragic list). At a time when women’s autonomy, even our right to exist, is called into question, we had to ask ourselves why we’d even play those kinds of songs. And we offer ‘Across the Mountains’ –
a woman’s story in a woman’s voice – as a step towards changing the traditional bluegrass narrative.” – Kristen Grainger

Photo Credit: Frank Miller Photography

WATCH: The Barefoot Movement, “Let It Out”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: The Barefoot Movement
Hometown: Oxford, North Carolina
Song: “Let It Out”

In Their Words: “This song seems to have fallen out of the sky. Tommy and I were really inspired by the show ‘Daisy Jones & the Six.’ It made us want to tap into our rock roots a bit. Tommy wrote the music in his head one night when he was falling asleep. He actually imagined it written out in notation so he would be able to remember it in the morning. When he played it for me, it was just a musical idea, chords and melody. I tweaked it a bit and tried to discern what the chords made me feel so I could find a lyrical direction, which was an interesting process, because usually for me, lyrics always come first. What came out was kind of a battle cry, for all who fight a war with anxiety and depression.

“We know how important it is not to bottle things up, but what happens once we’ve let it out? I think the song is asking if we can process all our feelings in a healthy way and move on, rather than sitting in our sadness. The song ended up being the perfect title track, because not only are we expressing some really vulnerable emotions, we’re also literally ‘letting out’ a lot of previously unreleased songs and pulling back the curtain a bit on mine and Tommy’s story, which has always been at the center of our music, though we have been hesitant to draw attention to it before now. And in giving ourselves the freedom to let it out, we feel we’re being more true to our authentic selves, musically and personally, and it just feels right.” – Noah Wall

Photo Credit: K Hammock Photography

LISTEN: Tray Wellington Band, “Moon In Motion 1”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Tray Wellington Band
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Song: “Moon In Motion 1”
Release Date: September 1, 2023
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “I often equate music and nature as one in one, as music is a constant movement that is always progressing forward through time. With this idea in mind, I thought one thing that always moves around us, like music, is the moon. I thought what a better way to progress in my music than channel this idea of continuous movement? That’s where the idea for ‘Moon In Motion 1’ came from, and the song is meant to convey these emotions. This is the first part of a three part movement that will be on my upcoming album.” – Tray Wellington

Photo Credit: Rob Laughter