Artist: Steven Gellman
Hometown: New Market, Maryland
Song: “Little Victories”
Album: All You Need
Release Date: October 6, 2023
Label: Hidden Poet Music
In Their Words: “Sometimes it’s the little things in life that we need to celebrate. Dedicated to anyone struggling just to get out of bed in the morning, or go about daily activities. ‘Celebrate the small.'” – Steven Gellman
Photo Credit: Renee Ruggles
Artist: Ethan Lyric
Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Song: “I Love You More”
Album: Saskatoon Berries EP
Release Date: October 13, 2023 (single); December 1, 2023 (EP)
In Their Words: “The music video was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, throughout the beautiful area of North Van alongside my cinematographer and long-time collaborator, Carter Heintz. Showing the journey and navigation of love through the simple and fun lens my music always tries to provide.
“The inspiration for this project as a whole came from a lot of artists and things in my life at the time. This single and my upcoming EP, Saskatoon Berries, take a lot of inspiration from the musicians I grew up hearing on YouTube – like Conan Gray, Cavetown, and Chloe Moriondo. All these people create music that just makes you feel at ease and want to smile, and that’s how I would love my music to be received as well. I feel this project was also deeply influenced by the process of finding myself and my identity. I always like to say that being an Indigenous artist, whether you write explicitly about Indigenous culture or not, your culture is one of the biggest inspirations to your art so I feel obviously that was a large inspiration as well.” – Ethan Lyric
Track Credits: Songwriter – Ethan Lyric
Musicians: Ethan Lyric – vocals, guitar
Jeremy Haywood Smith (JayWood) – bass
Brett Tizcon – keys
Anil Ramgotra – drums
Producer – Jeremy Haywood Smith (JayWood)
Recording engineer – Jeremy Haywood Smith (JayWood)
Mixing – Art Antony
Mastering – J. LaPointe (Archive Mastering)
Photo Credit: Julio Assis (BNB Studios)
Video Credits: Cinematographer – Carter Heintz
Edited by Ethan Lyric, Carter Heintz
Featuring – Matilda Shanks, Victoria McNeil
Artist: The Band of Heathens
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Heartless Year” (Live)
Album: Simple Things
Release Date: January 18, 2023
In Their Words: “‘Heartless Year’ is a song for the survivors out here juggling the flaming swords of life to hold it together. Recently we’ve all been pushed to our limits realizing we can bounce back stronger than before, and ‘Heartless Year’ is a tribute to that resilience. Our latest album, Simple Things, is an embrace of life’s excess being stripped away, and a celebration of the bare essentials – like friends and family – that pull us through the hard times. This is a recording of the song stripped of its full band arrangement, leaving you with the bare essentials.” – Gordy Quist
Photo Credit: Alysse Gafkjen
Video Credit: Barbara FG
Artist: The Roe Family Singers
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Song: “Loretta Lynn Blues”
Album: Sisters And Brothers
Label: Bonfire Music Group
In Their Words: “‘Loretta Lynn Blues’ is a tribute to both Loretta Lynn herself and the songs she wrote. There was a time when country music was made by real people, speaking about real, everyday issues. Folks like Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, and Hazel Dickens had everybody singing along and, more importantly, gave a voice to folks who didn’t have one before.
“Today’s country music is dominated by manufactured pop stars who, at best, sing about nothing and, at worst, use their gigantic platforms to amplify their messages of racism and misogyny.
“We wanted to write a song that gets back to the roots of what country music was and what it still could be. All while honoring one of the greatest there ever was: Loretta Lynn.
“The title is a reflection of how we thought Ms. Lynn would feel about today’s country music: after spending so much of her career singing songs like ‘One’s On the Way,’ ‘Rated X,’ and ‘The Pill,’ we figured she’d feel kind of down to hear modern country music singing about beers, my best girl, beaches, dogs, and pickup trucks.” – The Roe Family Singers
Track Credits:
Dan Gaarder – guitar
Dave Gustafson – mandolin
Noah Levy – drums
Eric Paulson – bass
Kim Roe – vocals
Quillan Roe – banjo
Rich Rue – steel guitar
Annie Savage – fiddle & back-up vocals
Stage Band:
Erik Brandt – accordion
Dave Gustafson – mandolin
Jake Johnson – fiddle
Brody Kucera – drums
David F. Robinson – guitar
Kim Roe – vocals
Quillan Roe – banjo
Rina Rossi – bass
Rich Rue – steel guitar
Adam Wirtzfeld – musical saw
Photo Credit: Katie Viles
Video Credits: Ryder Seeler – director, editor; Adam Olson – director of photography; Leah, Seth, and Tristan – film crew
Artist: Rachel Baiman
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Young Love” (Live)
Album: Common Nation of Sorrow Deluxe Edition
Release Date: December 1, 2023
Label: Signature Sounds
In Their Words: “Sometimes songs I’ve written become less relevant and relatable for me over time, but this one has seemed to stick and grow with me, such that I reach for it during live shows, often as a closer. I’m grateful for the chance to re-present it with two of my favorite musicians!
“This version of ‘Young Love’ was recorded live in Knoxville with Andrew Marlin and Josh Oliver of Watchhouse. They have such distinct voices, vocally as well as on their instruments, and it’s amazing to hear this song transformed under their influence. Andrew and Josh helped launch my solo career with the album Shame, and just like this song I have continued to love their music and learn from them over time.” – Rachel Baiman
Track Credits: Written by Rachel Baiman.
Performed by Rachel Baiman, Andrew Marlin, and Josh Oliver.
Engineered by Kaitlyn Raitz and Ben Plotnick.
Mixed by Sean Sullivan.
Mastered by Jon Neufeld.
Photo Credit: Natia Cinco
Video Credits: Owen Scarlett Productions, Owen Scarlett and Charissa Kroeger
Artist: Thunder and Rain
Hometown: Nashville, Tennesse
Song: “Wendigos Wanderin'”
Album: Storybook Sessions
Release Date: October 20, 2023
In Their Words: “This song was inspired by a TikTok rabbit hole I went down last year that revealed the world of wendigos, also called skinwalkers. I got addicted to watching these terrible quality videos of deer with odd head shapes and dogs walking on hind legs with weird looks in their eyes. One of the TikToks said, ‘In Appalachia, if you hear your name in the woods, no you didn’t.’ I loved this concept that people know these terrifying creatures exist, but they don’t want to talk about it.
“One day while walking through Peeler Park in Madison outside of Nashville, I had an eerie feeling that something was following me. In my mind I sang the chorus of this song to the beat of my footsteps. I got home and wrote the song, then brought it to the band where we had a ton of fun arranging the harmony parts and spooky interludes. Our goal was to make people in the audience feel unsettled but still have fun, like a good horror movie.” – Erinn Peet Lukes
Track Credits:
Photo Credit: Jake Byrne
Video Credits: Videographer – Andrew Hutton
Audio Engineer – Tim Miller
Recorded at Laughing Heart Studio in East Nashville, TN
Artist: Swearingen & Kelli
Hometown: AJ Swearingen – Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Jayne Kelli – Lapeer, Michigan; Current hometown – Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “This Old House”
Album: Build Myself Up From The Ground
Release Date: October 27, 2023
Label: Gone Rogue Music
In Their Words: “It’s about endurance, hope, the passage of time, saying goodbye if you have to, and the longing for stability when your life is changing so fast you can’t find any stable ground. The song is literal and metaphorical. The house we were living in was sold out from underneath us, I lost my father, we had health challenges, and were free-falling. It was a crazy year. Sometimes when everything in your life is painfully uncertain, you have to dig your heels in and hold your ground. My mother still lives in the same house I grew up in. It’s old, but it’s an anchor in the family. I hope she can hold onto it. I think everyone can relate to that.” – AJ Swearingen
Photo Credit: Juliana Shipps
Artist: Hogslop String Band
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Mississippi Queen”
Release Date: October 6, 2023
Label: Tone Tree Music
In Their Words: “‘Mississippi Queen’ is a story about an escaped inmate during the construction of the Richmond-Danville railroad. I wrote it years ago, and we have occasionally worked on it over the years, but we recently came up with a new arrangement of it that felt really good. The main character escapes on foot, follows the Tennessee River south, then across Alabama to find his family in North Mississippi. Ultimately, it’s a story about being separated from loved ones and doing whatever it takes to make it back home, which I think a lot of people can relate to.” – Daniel Binkley, banjo
Photo Credit: Josh Goleman
Artist: The Brothers Comatose
Hometown: San Francisco, California
Song: “The IPA Song” (featuring Ronnie McCoury)
Release Date: October 5, 2023
Label: Swamp Jam Records
In Their Words: “There comes a time in every band’s existence when you have speak up and let the chips fall where they may. We realize that this statement is really going to split our crowd, but it’s time we say something. We can’t drink IPAs anymore! They’ve gotten too strong and too hoppy and we just can’t do it any longer. All we drink are light beers now and maybe it’s because we turned into more of a quantity, not quality type of band… or maybe we just turned into a bunch of beer wusses. Either way, no more IPAs!
“It all stems from us overdoing it back in the day when we were sponsored by a beer company and they delivered 3 cases (72 beers!) of IPAs to every tour stop. So there we were, neck deep in super strong, warm IPAs in our van and we were just trying to keep up. It’s kinda like how you can’t drink Bacardi anymore because of that one bad night you had in college. That’s us with strong and hoppy beers. The song started off as a joke because venues kept putting IPAs in our green room, but we would never drink them. It turns out the message really hits home with a lot of people.
“When we were planning to go into the studio to record ‘The IPA Song,’ our mandolin player Greg wasn’t available, because he was out on tour with another band at the time. It turned out our buddy, mandolin maestro Ronnie McCoury, was going to be in town playing a show, so we got him to come and play mandolin and sing high harmonies on the track. And being the legend he is, he truly delivered the goods on this one.
“We recommend cracking a nice, cold, non-IPA beer to enjoy while watching this video.” – The Brothers Comatose
Photo courtesy of the Brothers Comatose, Pavement PR
Artist: Sarah King
Hometown: currently Ripton, Vermont; formerly Columbus, Georgia
Song: “Hey Hey What Can I Do” (Led Zeppelin cover)
Release Date: September 1, 2023 (single)
Label: Ringleader Records
In Their Words: “Recording ‘Hey Hey What Can I Do’ was a bold, last-minute decision in the studio to celebrate and share some self-love: It was the first song I learned to play by ear on guitar, and I kept the original pronouns as a nod to some of the wonderful women I’ve dated in the past. I am now married to a man, but owning my queerness through music felt like the right choice.
“When it came time to craft a video, I knew Loni (of Whiskey Ginger Goods, who also designs my logo and merch) was the perfect director. She’s excellent at capturing women feeling themselves, and those beautiful in-between, emotional moments that can really tell a story. During my summer tour in Montana, we set aside some time to film both the bar and bedroom scenes. Combined, the video leads us through the seductive, and at times silly, story of a woman in love with another woman who won’t be true. As the heartbreak unfolds, the video gets more unhinged, until I just flop on the bed, tired of trying. I loved recording the song and video, and I hope everyone who watches has a blast listening, too!” – Sarah King
Produced, recorded, and mixed by David Baron at Sun Mountain Studios, Boiceville, New York
Renee Hikari – assistant engineer
David Baron – mastering engineer
Photo Credit: Arielle Thomas
Video Credit: Filmed & directed by Whiskey Ginger Goods, Bozeman, Montana
