Tag: Video premiere

WATCH: Tim Higgins, “Second Chance”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Tim Higgins
Hometown: Greensboro, Alabama
Song: “Second Chance”
Album: Higher Ground Society Presents: Patchwork Symphony
Label: Cartographer Records

In Their Words: “This song is about a young man who just keeps making wrong decisions – who feels invincible. And because of those decisions, he gets the book thrown at him. Growing up, I’ve known a few very sweet, and seemingly all around good guys, who just keep doing all the wrong things – like they have some devil controlling them. And when you get a reputation with the police in a small town, you’re marked. They’ll follow you around; and when you’re immature, you’re an easy target. The law loves to make an example out of kids like that – I don’t know if it’s to try to scare everyone else straight – or perhaps it’s just about exerting power.

“In the Deep South, where this song is set and where I live, private prisons and the lack of mental healthcare and other resources feed into a system that doesn’t allow for second chances; it’s a system that allows for things to go from bad to the worst case scenario in an instant. Anyway, this is a little story about one such lost boy, who ends up in jail for a very long time – with ‘No Regrets’ tattooed across his chest when certainly, with age, he is very full of regret. Recorded at Cartographer Records in Mobile, Alabama, as part of their OddCollege Music series, ‘Second Chance’ will be featured on Higher Ground Society’s Patchwork Symphony, a compilation showcasing Alabama artists, funded in part by the Alabama State Council on the Arts.” – Tim Higgins

Photo Credit: Trey Lane

WATCH: Abby Posner, “The Starting Line”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Abby Posner
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “The Starting Line”
Album: Second Chances
Release Date: August 11, 2023
Label: Blackbird Record Label

In Their Words: “I have always been torn between being an artist and having a family, and a part of this song is about working through some of these complicated feelings. ‘The Starting Line’ is also about feeling like an outsider, and ‘falling behind’ — it is a journey toward cultivating a new relationship and new perspective with that part of myself.

“I really wanted to do a stripped-down, live version of this song, because I didn’t want it to be perfect or over produced. The rawness is an important part of the song’s overall message. I have spent a lot of time in Temescal Canyon meditating, hiking, and unplugging from the sometimes chaotic hustle and bustle of LA! This is a place that I have always been able to self-reflect and see things more clearly.

“I hope that other artists, queer people, and non-conforming/unconventional folks will be able to hear this song as an anthem for being able to let their freak flag fly, and be proud of marching to the beat of their own drum.” – Abby Posner

Photo Credit: Jeff Fasano

WATCH: Briscoe, “Sparrows”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Briscoe
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Sparrows”
Album: West of It All
Release Date: September 15, 2023
Label: ATO Records

In Their Words: “‘Sparrows’ is a heartbreak song inspired by time spent in Paris, France, and John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. The song aims to capture the effect evil has on a relationship, as shown through that of Adam and Cathy Trask in the novel. ‘Sparrows’ holds a special place in our hearts as one of the few sad songs on the record, and has already become one of our favorites to play live.” – Briscoe

Photo Credit: Philip Lupton

WATCH: Rose Gerber, “Memories Someday”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Rose Gerber
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Song: “Memories Someday”
Album: Memories Someday EP
Release Date: August 4, 2023 (single); September 29, 2023 (EP)

In Their Words: “There are so many great creators and recording spaces in Portland, so when I sat down to plan the video for ‘Memories Someday,’ I knew I wanted to showcase one of the many awesome studios here and make it an all-Portland project. I settled on Page St. Sound Labs, which has a beautiful all-wood live recording room built out from scratch in a warehouse with incredible acoustics. We captured my voice along with the band with an Ear Trumpet Delphina microphone (also a Portland-based company) in addition to mic-ing and tracking each instrument. Spectravision video production shot the live performance, capturing the spirit of the band and the song through editing and production. The result is a true made-in-Portland video that really captures our band’s vibe, sound, and Portland roots.” – Rose Gerber

Photo Credit: Whitney Lyons

WATCH: Caroline Cotter, “The Year of the Wrecking Ball”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Caroline Cotter
Hometown: Providence, Rhode Island; currently Ellsworth, Maine
Song: “The Year of the Wrecking Ball”
Album: Gently As I Go
Release Date: August 18, 2023

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘The Year of the Wrecking Ball’ in the winter of 2020 as I reflected on the challenges of transition and the act of letting go. I grew up in a brick house, in a quiet residential neighborhood on the East Side of Providence, Rhode Island. This home was my place of refuge, belonging, and comfort. Cozy mornings listening to records on the green rug by the heat vent in our family room, sliding down the long wooden staircase in sleeping bags, being sung to sleep by my parents, surrounded by a menagerie of stuffed animals. Then as I got older and my siblings left the house, nostalgia and the unkept lawn grew, paint chipped, and our family continued to change. When I was 20, my parents divorced and sold the house. It took me years to understand what saying goodbye to my childhood home meant to me. As painful as the loss was, it gave me a push to find belonging in the present moment, make home wherever I was, and see the light through the cracks. ‘The Year of the Wrecking Ball’ revisits a place and relationships that could never be the same, and finds gratitude in the spaces made by inevitable change.” – Caroline Cotter

Photo Credit: Katherine Emery

WATCH: Billy Raffoul, “In My Arms”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Billy Raffoul
Hometown: Leamington, Ontario, Canada
Song: “In My Arms”
Album: For All These Years 
Release Date: July 28, 2023 (single); October 20, 2023 (album)
Label: Nettwerk Music Group

In Their Words: “‘In My Arms’ is a special one for me, because it’s something I wrote with my brother. For the first half of 2022 I was writing nearly a song every other day getting ready for this album, and there were about two weeks that Peter and I wrote at our place in Nashville. We would get six songs, and ‘In My Arms’ was one of them.

“I wrote it on my ’59 Gibson 335. I’m a lefty who plays right-handed guitars upside down and this song requires me to get pretty high up the neck for some of these chord shapes. Needed something with a double cutaway and the 335 did the trick. There’s no real picking pattern to this one. Just kind of raking into the chords and quite a bit of palm muting. This one was more about the tone, a ’40s tweed deluxe right at its breaking point.

“Playing the guitar upside down can be super inspiring when I’m writing. Having the bass strings on the bottom allows me to use my index, middle, and ring fingers to make some different bass patterns while my thumb plays the melody on the higher strings. These patterns are found all over this new album, particularly in songs like ‘Jim Carrey’ and ‘I Can’t Love You Anymore.’ I’m thrilled about this new album, because it’s the first time all of my influences are rolled into one record. Recording songs has always just been a vehicle to get people in a room together to hear them live, and the dynamic of this album is a good representation of what you’d hear from me in a live setting. I can’t wait to bring these songs to life on stage.” – Billy Raffoul

Photo Credit: Vanessa Heins

WATCH: Hannah Connolly, “Reno”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Hannah Connolly
Hometown: Eau Claire, Wisconsin; now Los Angeles, California
Song: “Reno”
Album: Shadowboxing
Release Date: June 23, 2023 (Single)

In Their Words: “‘Reno’ was written with my friend and longtime collaborator, Jordan Ruiz, and is the first song to be released on my second album.

“It’s about the ebb and flow in a relationship and the magnetic pull you feel toward each other through it all. My partner (and now fiancé) Eric is also a musician and tours often. For me this song and the corresponding video were inspired by that long distance, and what it was like early in our relationship when I’d take trips to see him out on the road. There’s something romantic about the time spent en route to see someone you love and it was fun to try to capture that feeling.

“The video was directed by my friend Ryan Neal Cordwell. We had a fun couple of days making it out in the desert outside of Phoenix, Arizona. Ryan also does photography and video for cars and a very generous friend of his let us borrow their vintage BMW to use in the video. It was so fun and I’m really grateful, because I’ve always dreamt of doing a music video with a classic car. We were also lucky to find a small airport in the area where we could film outside of the city. Watching the planes take off at sunset was a highlight of the day and really captured the mood of the song.” – Hannah Connolly

Photo and video by Ryan Neal Cordwell

WATCH: Davy Knowles, “Speak Softly, Tread Lightly”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Davy Knowles
Hometown: Isle of Man
Song: “Speak Softly, Tread Lightly”
Album: If I Should Wander
Release Date: August 25, 2023

In Their Words: “I feel the only way to talk about this song is frankly and honestly, as every one of its words is a truth for me.

“I have struggled with depression for a long time, although it’s only in recent history that I’ve accepted that and called it what it is. It was my wife, Amber, who persuaded me to find help and for that (and a million other things), I am so thankful to her. I’m honestly not sure I would be here without her.

“With depression, sometimes it’s hard to look past your own nose so to speak, and to see how the condition may be affecting those closest to you. If and when you do notice, you can then start to feel guilty for feeling the way you do. Thus creating a vicious circle within yourself.

“This song was/is my way of trying to comfort Amber during my struggle, to thank her and to reassure her that she’s perfect the way she is, that this is an internal fight. That I’m the problem, and while I’m learning to navigate it I may need a little extra comforting. It’s also to apologize to her for how this internal fight may materialize on the outside.

“Sounds depressing right? Guess it kind of is. It’s a sad song, written from a loving point of view. Kind of like – ‘Bear with me. You’re perfect, but I’m not right now.'” – Davy Knowles

Photo Credit: Michael Coakes

WATCH: George Jackson, “Alhaji”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: George Jackson
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Alhaji”
Album: George Jackson’s Local Trio
Release Date: July 18, 2023 (video); August 18, 2023 (album)
Label: Adhyâropa Records

In Their Words: “I feel a much stronger sense of identity with this record. In many ways, it’s still working with the concepts that I was getting at with Time and Place, trying to be a part of something with a long history while also trying to bring myself to the table as an outsider, but now there’s a lot more confidence in bringing together the different elements I’m interested in and continuing to form my voice with less fear of ‘doing it wrong.’

“(Banjoist Frank Evans) can go very deep in old-time as well as bluegrass music, and also has an interest and proficiency as an improviser and with jazz concepts. He just feels like such a natural fit for me musically. (Bassist Eli Broxham) has such a fearless spirit in the way that he approaches music.

“Fellow fiddle player John Mailander (Bruce Hornsby, Billy Strings) produced the record, collaborating closely with the trio to achieve this boundary-pushing vision. Something that I’m proud of with this record is that it doesn’t sound like music that has been made before — we were able to push old-time in genuinely new directions using arrangements, samples, and recording techniques.” – George Jackson

Photo Credit: Libby Danforth

WATCH: Stillhouse Junkies, “Never Going Back Again”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Stillhouse Junkies
Hometown: Durango, Colorado
Song: “Never Going Back Again”
Album: Small Towns
Release Date: September 9, 2022
Label: Dark Shadow Recording

In Their Words: “‘Never Going Back Again’ was always on our short list of cover ideas and it felt like a natural candidate for the lone cover slot on our Small Towns album. The 1977 Lindsey Buckingham song was a fun challenge to arrange for the trio since it’s essentially just a fingerpicked guitar riff to start with. We changed the groove and added some melodic interplay between the fiddle and guitar over Cody’s backbeat bass line and came up with what we think is a fresh take that still honors the spirit of the original.

“Given the source material, it only seemed appropriate to make a video that looked and felt unlike anything we’d ever done before. Our amazing creative team of Hanna Irene (Hanna Irene Motion Pictures) and Renee Cornue (Renee Cornue Studio) came up with a concept that captured the funky, retro vibe of the song and used a stop motion technique to create a unique aesthetic that fit our reworked two-and-a-half minute arrangement perfectly. We shot the video in one day in an old gymnasium in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, as part of an artist residency at Green Box Arts. We’re absolutely thrilled with the outcome and can’t wait to share it with the world.” – Stillhouse Junkies

Photo Credit: Renee Cornue Studio