Tag: Video premiere

WATCH: Cody Tinnin, “No Man for Workin'”

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Artist: Cody Tinnin
Hometown: Durango, Colorado
Song: “No Man for Workin'”
Album: Perennial
Release Date: March 26, 2021
Label: Western Yoke Records

In Their Words: “No Man for Workin’,” from my debut solo album Perennial, is the tale of two prospectors in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado in the late 19th century: a murder ballad with a twist. Clawhammer banjo and high tenor vocals, recorded on vintage analog recording gear, help convey the darkness that dwells within the song’s protagonist. ‘No Man for Workin” is an original composition that captures the lo-fi familiarity of a classic old-time ballad. The song’s video also documents the Perennial home recording session with Jon Atkinson of Bigtone Records. Perennial is a snapshot into my personal study of clawhammer banjo, old-time, and my lifelong relationship with music. Years before I joined Stillhouse Junkies and became a full-time musician, my grandmother Mary Bartee told me that she believed music was my true calling. It has taken some time and searching to find my path as a musician but in the past few years, I believe I have finally found what it is I’m supposed to do in this life. Turns out, Grandma was right.” — Cody Tinnin

Video produced by Rees Gibbons. Photo credit: Renee Cornue

WATCH: Jomo & the Possum Posse, “Self Quarantine”

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Artist: Jomo & the Possum Posse
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Self Quarantine”
Album: Self Quarantine EP
Release Date: March 26, 2021
Label: Guy on a Buffalo

In Their Words: “I started 2020 with a challenge to myself to write a song every week for a full year. I had no idea the year would give me so much material! ‘Self Quarantine’ was written right at the time of the lockdown, when things were starting to get really crazy. People were hoarding groceries and supplies and generally freaking out. I loved the idea of using that as an excuse/metaphor to break it off with somebody. After more than a year of weekly songs, and the pandemic being such a big part of our lives, we decided to release an EP of some of our favorites.” – Jomo Edwards

Photo credit: Mike Wolfe

WATCH: Natalie D-Napoleon, “Gasoline & Liquor”

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Artist: Natalie D-Napoleon
Hometown: Freemantle, Western Australia and Santa Barbara
Song: “Gasoline & Liquor”
Album: You Wanted to Be the Shore but Instead You Were the Sea
Release Date: March 26, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Gasoline & Liquor’ came about after traveling through California’s Mojave Desert so when it came to making a video for the song the other ‘Wild West’ — that of Western Australia — seemed the perfect location. We were headed out to Joshua Tree to catch some music at Pappy & Harriet’s when we passed a sign at the side of the highway that read ‘Gasoline and Liquor.’ I pointed at the sign and said to my husband, ‘That is a song — but it’s a man’s song.’ I then blurted out, ‘You’ve gotta help me write it!’ We passed lyrics back and forth while I honed the music. A week before we were set to record the new album I started fingerpicking the song and the arrangement fell into place. We recorded the album live in an old church in the hills behind Santa Barbara and the take you hear was captured during a momentary pause between someone chainsawing trees nearby!

“I wanted to make a video that reflected the bleak desert landscape of places like Victorville and Barstow, which inspired the song. Since we’re currently in Australia we went to the western mining town of Kalgoorlie where there is no shortage of abandoned gas stations and outback pubs. One of my favorite places is the Broad Arrow Tavern, a quintessential outback pub, miles from town in the middle of anywhere with writing scribbled all over the walls giving it an edge-of-civilization atmosphere. The crusty outback characters and bar flies stared at us menacingly during the entire shoot, leaving us pondering whether we were going to get out of there alive. We almost didn’t, managing to grab our cameras and equipment and get out of there before a bar brawl broke loose. Music sure takes you down some interesting roads!” — Natalie D-Napoleon

Photo credit: Brett Leigh Dicks

WATCH: DL Rossi, “Tumbling”

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Artist: DL Rossi
Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Song: “Tumbling”
Album: Lonesome Kind
Release Date: April 16, 2021

In Their Words: “It was great to work with Jax Anderson on the music video for ‘Tumbling.’ We wanted to create a feeling of youth and innocence while introducing the harsher realities of life. ‘Tumbling’ is a song about realizing traditional norms don’t work out for all of us, but we still have a place in this world and can still find happiness that works for us. There is a specific and beautiful journey for each individual, and while we can’t ‘opt out’ of the hurtful experiences and memories, we can share our experiences and hopefully encourage and support each other. That’s what I hope people take away from this tune and the music video.” — DL Rossi

Photo credit: Rachel Hurley

WATCH: CeeLo Green, “Slow Down” (Live From Easy Eye Sound Studio)

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Artist: CeeLo Green
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Song: “Slow Down”
Album: CeeLo Green… Is Thomas Callaway
Label: BMG / Easy Eye Sound

In Their Words: “The song ‘Slow Down’ is ironic because it actually speeds up the process, pulling you closer to the climatic heights of this heartfelt album and the consumer just continues to soar from there. Recording this video with Dan was like experiencing déjà vu… surreal and exciting. To be able to get that feeling working with him on the album and then reliving it to record this live version was amazing. This album was just a thought and we turned it into a full body of work. From start to finish, to express ourselves the way we did writing this song… it was like an out of body experience.”” — CeeLo Green

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

WATCH: Tommy Emmanuel, “Flatt Did It” (with Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley)

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Artist: Tommy Emmanuel with Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Flatt Did It”
Album: Accomplice Series Volume 1 With Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley EP
Release Date: May 7, 2021
Label: CGP Sounds

In Their Words: “My feelings about the sessions are they were very spontaneous, and in fact, I suggested ‘Flatt Did It’ and ‘Copper Kettle’ as pieces on the day we recorded them. That’s how it came about. It was very spontaneous. ‘Flatt Did It’ is a tribute to Lester Flatt and some of his classic kind of licks. We had the film crew in there for the day and they just rolled the cameras. We actually just played and ignored them almost.” — Tommy Emmanuel

“Well, it’s always great to work with Tommy. He’s such a great artist, and such a great person. There are always a lot of sparks flying when we play together, and all three of us are into lots of different musical genres, so that’s always fun to explore different musical territories when we get together. This song comes from an album that Chet Atkins did with Doc Watson. I love to hear Tommy and Trey play together. There’s a great respect between the two of them. They are both so brilliant. It’s great to hear them feeding off each other. And this song is just the perfect vehicle for a Dobro, so I’m enjoying the whole thing!” — Rob Ickes

“Yeah, this one was Tommy’s idea, and it’s a tune from the Doc Watson and Chet Atkins duo record. Rob and I both have a bluegrass background, and this song was written with the great bluegrass icon Lester Flatt in mind. (Hence the title.) It really was a natural fit and recording it with Tommy was so much fun! Getting to pick with Tommy and Rob any time is always a blast! Working in the studio with Tommy was so much fun, which I think is evident throughout this EP. The great vibe in the studio that day is prominent in the recordings. It was really just the three of us hanging out and playing tunes…what could be more fun?” — Trey Hensley

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

WATCH: Reid Jenkins, “Strange Lover”

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Artist: Reid Jenkins
Hometown: New York City
Song: “Strange Lover”
Album: A Beautiful Start
Release Date: April 23, 2021
Label: Nettwerk

In Their Words: “While most of my songs start while I have an instrument in my hand, ‘Strange Lover’ started as a title that I later put to music. I was struck by the ambiguity in the word ‘strange’ — how it means both unfamiliar and bizarre, and how those two senses of the word have different meanings, but often feel the same when you’re faced with new experiences, such as falling in love. I wanted to write a song that suspended itself in that ambiguity and explore the tension between avoiding the unknown while being drawn in by the thrill of beauty and discovery.

“The lyrics and melody of the verses evolved slowly over the course of a year or so. Sometimes the lines came to me during sessions of very intentional writing; I remember penning ‘Try as I might, I just can’t quite make you make sense’ while sitting in a very idyllic songwriter-y setting — on a bench overlooking the sea on the coast of Maine. Other lines kind of wafted their way out of my subconscious, such as ‘You’re a giant, yet you fit right on the palm of my hand,’ which came to me while walking with my friend at night in Riverside Park in New York. The chorus burst out of me in five minutes about a week before I got into the studio. The process of recording it was similarly organic. Unlike the other three songs on my upcoming EP, I showed up to the studio without much of an arrangement or an agenda for how I wanted it to sound. I let it evolve over the course of the recording process, and I think the final product reflects that process in its hazy and relaxed feeling.” — Reid Jenkins

Photo credit: Shervin Lainez

WATCH: Abigail Dowd, “Beautiful Day”

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Artist: Abigail Dowd
Hometown: Carthage & Southern Pines, North Carolina
Song: Beautiful Day
Album: Beautiful Day
Album Release Date: April 23, 2021

In Their Words: “I started writing ‘Beautiful Day’ sitting on our neighbor’s front porch one morning. I was living with them at the time, after our house flooded and my husband and I were waiting for the city to buy and demolish it. He was still living in our house with no heat, taking care of our cat and dog, and it got a little lonely month after month of waking up alone in other people’s houses. It was such a wild experience of not knowing what each day would bring or when the sky would clear, so to speak. As the verses started shaping up, I remembered all of the times in my life that felt dark and uncertain, but were actually necessary parts of growing into better versions of myself. This song became a reminder to enjoy the moment and have faith that it was leading to a brighter day. And now, I look back on those days as gifts of time with friends, with my guitar, and without the distractions that used to keep me from having long stretches to write.” — Abigail Dowd

Photo credit: Todd Turner

WATCH: Cristina Vane, “Prayer For the Blind”

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Artist: Cristina Vane
Hometown: Turin, Italy
Song: “Prayer For the Blind”
Album: Nowhere Sounds Lovely
Release Date: April 2, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Prayer For the Blind’ is inspired by a friendly couple I met while camping on the border of Nebraska and Iowa. She told me her mother suffered from dementia, but that it couldn’t help but make her laugh when her mother claimed that her husband was cheating on her, going dancing with a woman with two peg legs, and that she was going to wring her neck. The anecdote got me thinking about how we try and find levity in heavy situations, and also about the bond between mothers and daughters and the intergenerational burdens that can be passed along through them. I wanted to find a tone that matched the difficult nature of these questions, and the lonesome modal banjo seemed perfect for that, paired with Nate Leath’s great fiddling. The issues of motherhood and illness are no new phenomenon, so I thought old time sounds fit the theme well — you can’t beat a fiddle and banjo!” — Cristina Vane

Photo credit: Oceana Colgan
Video credit: Jeremy Harris

WATCH: Raine Hamilton, “Brave Land”

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Artist: Raine Hamilton
Hometown: The flatland prairies of Winnipeg, Manitoba
Song: “Brave Land”
Album: Brave Land

In Their Words: “I am a prairie person, but this album is about the mountains. As a flat lander, I was in a good position to appreciate the contrast of the open, vulnerable spaces of my upbringing, with the courageous, up-reaching lands of the mountains. We don’t have ‘up’ where I come from, so I really had a lot to learn from the mountains, this brave land that connects both the earth and the sky. This song, ‘Brave Land,’ is the title track of the record, and speaks to the courage of these landforms that reach out beyond their earthly world, and the spiritual connection that represents. ‘Brave Land’ is a joyful song that celebrates being alive on the Earth! What an amazing time that can be!” — Raine Hamilton

Photo credit: Megan Steen