Tag: Video premiere

WATCH: Mark & Maggie O’Connor, “All We Will Be”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Mark & Maggie O’Connor
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Song: “All We Will Be”
Release Date: September 30, 2023
Label: ONErpm/OMAC Records

In Their Words: “‘All We Will Be’ is one of our new vocal songs where we reach for a more contemplative place in words and music. There is such mystery and intrigue with the lyrics, by my co-writer Joe Henry, and the story-telling vocal performance by Maggie, that it was interesting for me to create an expanded instrumental soundscape for it. The musical qualities move from plaintive Americana guitar strums to a jazz-rock acoustic fusion crescendo that showcases Maggie’s majestic violin solo. The powerful and intuitive bass and drums on this song – by Dennis Crouch and John Gardner – help to elevate this idea. Our journey here is about testing faith and rediscovering it through love and music.

“In scouting locations for the music video, it was Maggie that suggested the piece be filmed adjacent to the stillness and reflection of our North Carolina lake. On the day of filming, it poured down during the day leaving us a sense of renewal in the forest when things cleared off to do the shoot. The storm also left a painting in the sky — one of those colorful Southern sunsets over the water that had us dancing to the music for the video on the shoreline. I had my 1865 Martin out there on the edge of the swampy part of the lake conveying timelessness through the bending of the strings like ripples in the water. With inspiration from the lyric, ‘Back into trees, like all that we are,’ the low setting sun gave us the shadow effect essential to combine Maggie’s violin and my viola that accompanies her, returning us into the roots of trees on the forest floor. It was joyful to create this video with my wife Maggie, and even more so to have my son Forrest handling the great camera work and the directing of our music video.” – Mark O’Connor

Track Credits: Written by Joe Henry and Mark O’Connor

Maggie O’Connor – vocals, violin, cello
Mark O’Connor – vocals, guitar, mandolin, mandocello, violin, viola
Dennis Crouch – upright bass
John Gardner – drums
Tracking Engineer – Neal Cappellino
Overdubs and Mixing Engineer – Mark O’Connor
Mastering Engineer – Dave Harris at Studio B Mastering, Charlotte, NC
Recorded at Sound Emporium Studio A, Nashville, TN
Overdubs at Hometone Studio

Photo Credit: David Hume Kennerly
Video Credit: Filmed and directed by Forrest O’Connor

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

WATCH: The Kody Norris Show, “Fiddler’s Rock”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: The Kody Norris Show
Hometown: Mountain City, Tennessee
Song: “Fidder’s Rock”
Album: Rhinestone Revival
Release Date: September 22, 2023
Label: Rebel Records

In Their Words: “The story of Fiddler’s Rock is one that I happened upon while in elementary school. It’s a story of an eccentric mountain fiddler by the name of Martin Stone, that often amused himself by playing his fiddle for a den of rattlesnakes. The legend says, he had the ability to charm the snakes to the point they would lay erect in the Sun. However, one day while watching the snakes in their trance, Mr. Stone was charmed and met his untimely demise.” – Kody Norris

Photo Credit: Radio Bristol
Video Credit: BubbleUp

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

WATCH: Melody Walker, Crys Matthews & Heather Mae, “Room”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Melody Walker, Crys Matthews, Heather Mae
Hometown: Melody – Bay Area, California; Crys – Richlands, North Carolina; Heather – Washington, D.C. Area
Song: “Room”
Release Date: September 15, 2023
Label: AntiFragile Music

In Their Words: “‘Room’ started as a conversation between me and my co-writer, Sarah Potenza, about the enduring underrepresentation of women and other marginalized folks on festival lineups, but it blossomed into so much more. The ways that women and woman-aligned people are expected to not take up space in the world: to not be fat, loud, queer, creative, assertive, and are definitely not to band together in solidarity to fight against our own oppression. Community and joy are the keys to liberation, and this song celebrates both. I am so glad my faves Heather and Crys were down to come bring it to life with me.” – Melody Walker

“The first time I heard the demo of ‘Room’ that Melody sent me, I had tears in my eyes by the time it got to, ‘Your win is mine, I’ll root for you.’ As a Black, Butch-of-center lesbian in the Americana and country genres, it rarely feels like there is room for women in general, and especially not for women like me. Getting to lift my voice alongside Melody to echo the powerful sentiment contained within this song was an absolute honor. I hope it empowers women and girls to advocate for one another on and off the stage.” – Crys Matthews

“This song is so much more than just an all-woman collab. ‘Room’ stands as a celebratory rallying cry against the enduring patriarchal norms that fuel female rivalry. There persists this notion that there’s only one seat at the table and, when women scan the music industry’s landscape, you can see why we’d be forced to think that. It’s 2023, and a woman has yet to secure a Grammy for Producer of the Year. Examine festival lineups and you’ll see a stark gender imbalance in the representation of male and female artists. This scarcity of ‘room’ forces us into a perceived competition, when in reality, our struggle should be directed at dismantling the system that pits us against one another.” – Heather Mae

Track Credits: Written by Melody Walker & Sarah Potenza

Vocals: Melody Walker; Heather Mae
Vocals and Guitar: Crys Matthews
Slide Guitar: Jacob Groopman
Bass: Michael Majett
Drums: Alex Bice
Keys: Jen Gunderman
Additional Guitars: Dan Knobler
Produced by Dan Knobler

Photo and Video Credit: Kaitlyn Raitz
Filmed live at Sound Emporium Studios, Nashville, TN

WATCH: Daniel Rodriguez, “Mixtape”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Daniel Rodriguez
Hometown: Boulder, Colorado
Song: “Mixtape”
Album: Vast Nothing
Release Date: March 1, 2023

In Their Words: “I wrote this song in the passenger seat of a Chevy truck on a road trip from Idaho to Colorado. The world was slowly opening back up from those strange days. We found ourselves rediscovering the joys of a good, honest road trip. Rediscovering the joys of the open road. We were fixed up with the perfect ingredients: good company, a good playlist, and the here and now.

“The video was directed and edited by my friend, Jesse Borrell. He had me up at 4 a.m. a few times, headed to particular locations in order to get the right light and angles. I love what he created.” – Daniel Rodriguez

Photo Credit: Jesse Borrell

WATCH: Cidny Bullens, “Little Pieces”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Cidny Bullens
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Little Pieces”
Album: Little Pieces
Release Date: September 14, 2023
Label: Kill Rock Stars

In Their Words: “‘Little Pieces’ is the very first song I wrote after I started transitioning. It took months to even notice what would or what eventually did start happening to me. The ‘old’ me was falling away piece by piece, but I could not yet see the ‘new’ me. In this song I ask myself the question, ‘What will I become?’ Knowing that whatever that was going to be — I had gone too far to turn back. I think every human has this experience at some point in their lives — a decision or choice that we make to change our reality from one thing to another. No matter how big or small, there is most likely some fear that accompanies the ‘not knowing’ of that choice.” — Cidny Bullens

Photo Credit: Travis Commeau

WATCH: Kelly Hunt, “On the Bayou”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Kelly Hunt
Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee
Song: “On the Bayou”
Album: Ozark Symphony
Release Date: September 8, 2023 (single); October 13, 2023 (album)
Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “I see this song as a kind of modern-day adaptation of the ‘Evangeline’ tale, a centerpiece of Louisiana folklore, which I first encountered through Longfellow’s poem by the same name. This particular song emerged just a couple weeks before heading down to make this record with producer Dirk Powell at his Cypress House studio in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. I felt compelled to revisit the ‘Evangeline’ poem and was struck anew by how deeply her story resonated with me and seemed to mirror my own. On a whim, we ended up cutting it for the record, and I went on to film an accompanying music video for it in the bayou-strewn countryside close to where the album was made. The chorus is an invocation of sorts: ‘Evangeline, tell me what you know…’ A plea for guidance across time and space from one lovelorn woman to another, and a summoning of the same lodestar that, as the story goes, led Evangeline to the live oak on the banks of Bayou Teche where her search was fulfilled.” – Kelly Hunt

Photo Credit: Makemade

WATCH: Gwen Levey and the Breakdown, “Barefoot and Pregnant”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Gwen Levey and the Breakdown
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Barefoot and Pregnant”
Album: Not the Girl Next Door EP
Release Date: November 3, 2023

In Their Words: “RIP Roe V Wade. That was such a dark day. It’s a very personal issue for me and most women. I was a child who was sexually assaulted. So, everything that’s been happening hit me really hard, especially here in Tennessee, which has the strictest abortion ban. That, even if you’re a child, you can’t get help for anything like that. The song has a serious social commentary, but I wanted it to still be fun so it’s more accessible. You have to be brave to sing that in the south.

“This song is for all the freedom-lovin’, democracy-lovin’, country music-lovin’ people out there who want to help women win back their Reproductive Rights!” – Gwen Levey

Photo Credit: Jonathan Freeland

WATCH: Katie Curley, “Lucky In Love”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Katie Curley
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York; originally from Home, Washington
Song: “Lucky In Love”
Album: Penny For My Heartbreak
Release Date: September 8, 2023

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Lucky In Love’ while driving through Kansas with my husband and bandmate, guitarist Brendan Curley. Actually, he was driving, and I was listening to the Rolling Stones on the car stereo and watching the flat roll by. By the time we got to St. Louis, I had everything but the second verse. I’m incredibly honored that Mary Lee Kortes agreed to sing harmonies for this song on the album. Blue Betty, the ’79 baby blue Ford pickup in the video, was a dream to drive and her owners are also lovely people. I borrowed Brendan’s guitar and cowboy hat to add a bit of a magical element to the storyline, and I think it works well with director Michael Bartolomeo’s quirky, cool style.” – Katie Curley

Photo Credit: Michael Bartolomeo