Tag: Video premiere

WATCH: Clem Snide & Scott Avett, “The Stuff of Us” (Live From Just Beyond)

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Artist: Clem Snide & Scott Avett
Song: “The Stuff of Us” (Live From Just Beyond)
Album: Forever Just Beyond
Release Date: March 27, 2020
Label: Ramseur Records

In Their Words: “‘The Stuff of Us’ for me is a gleeful advocation of spirit over body. As my dying friend once said, ‘Death is not a wall but a doorway….’ I was raised by atheists so I’m hardly a qualified defender of any faith, but it seems to me that the ‘scientific’ framing is just as magical in its attempts to explain why there’s something instead of nothing. I mention dark matter/dark energy in the lyrics because, as I understand it at least, something like 95 percent of the universe is actually held together by this mysterious force or energy that is completely invisible and impossible to detect. Maybe Richard Dawkins would disagree but that sounds an awful lot like God to me. And for something to be truly real it would also have to be eternal…and free.” — Clem Snide

Photo credit: Crackerfarm

WATCH: Tommy Emmanuel, “Luttrell”

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Artist: Tommy Emmanuel
Hometown: Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia + currently resides in San Jose, California
Song: “Luttrell”
Album: The Best of Tommysongs
Release Date: May 8, 2020
Label: CGP Sounds/Cruzen Street Records

In Their Words: “Luttrell is a town in East Tennessee where my childhood hero, Chet Atkins, was born and raised. I took a trip out there, and I stood at the very spot where his house used to be, and I wrote this song. All my life, his love and encouragement has meant so much to me. He was a true friend, a great man, and one of the most important pioneers in the history of guitar playing.” — Tommy Emmanuel

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

WATCH: Mile Twelve, “Long Done Gone”

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Artist: Mile Twelve
Hometown: Boston, Masschusetts
Song: “Long Done Gone”

In Their Words: “Back in February we had a few days off the road and decided to spend one of them in Brooklyn, New York, playing music and making videos with some friends. We called up Michael Daves, Jacob Jolliff, and Tony Trischka and ended up having this epic afternoon of arranging a few bluegrass standards for eight people to jam on. Things got pretty wacky, including this video, which is a mashup of the bluegrass song ‘Long Gone’ and the fiddle tune ‘Done Gone.’ We decided to try this medley at first because we thought it would be funny but it turned out they’re both in the key of Bb and it ended up working great. Hope you enjoy!” — Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Mile Twelve

Photo credit: Kaitlyn Raitz

WATCH: The Slocan Ramblers, “New Morning”

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Artist: The Slocan Ramblers
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Song: “New Morning”
Album: Queen City Jubilee
Label: SloMusic

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘New Morning’ right after our second album Coffee Creek came out, and it came to me pretty quick. There’s this funny period after you put out an album — a moment of calm and then the crashing realization that it’s on to the next one. It’s that push to get back to work that got me writing again, and this song came out first. I was listening to Béla Fleck’s Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 2 endlessly around that time, so maybe you can find some bits of inspiration in there. Big thanks to Trent Freeman (check out his awesome band The Fretless) for the videography.” — Adrian Gross, The Slocan Ramblers

Photo credit: Jen Squires

WATCH: Lee Henke, “Captain of the Ship”

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Artist: Lee Henke
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Captain of the Ship”
Album: Captain of the Ship
Release Date: June 26, 2020

From the Artist: “‘Captain of the Ship’ is the title track of the upcoming album. I wrote this tune after a somewhat depressing gig at a casino. I decided to drink as much free beer as I could and spent the entire $50 I made from the show on one hand of poker. I don’t remember going to sleep but I woke up in the morning to some chicken-scratch lyrics on a bar napkin. The theme seems to dance around the romanticized idea of being the only person affected by the decisions you make, or the unrealistic freedom of being all on your own.” — Lee Henke

Photo credit: Ira Wolf

WATCH: Lisa Lambe, “Dust and Sand”

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Artist: Lisa Lambe
Hometown: Dublin, Ireland
Song: “Dust and Sand”
Album: Juniper
Release Date: April 3, 2020
Label: Blue Élan Records

In Their Words: “The inspiration for this song came from a treasured place: Omey Island, a tidal island on the western edge of Connemara County Galway in my homeplace Ireland. From the mainland you can barely see this place. The island is now abandoned but remains a place of devotion with its holy well. It is quiet and beautiful. ‘Dust and Sand’ is an ode to nature. It’s a song that reflects the space in between, and the lyrics are about being in that in-between place. A bit like the now…. Hope it brings you peace and a sense of place.” — Lisa Lambe

Photo credit: Dora Kazmierak

WATCH: The Golden Age, “Weirdo”

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Artist: The Golden Age
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Weirdo”
Album: I’m Sure It’ll Be Fine
Release Date: February 21, 2020
Label: Poke the Bear Records

In Their Words: “This video was made by those wild guys from Neighborhoods Apart, Joshua Britt and Neilson Hubbard. Josh had this concept he’d always wanted to do that ‘Weirdo’ seemed to fit nicely. Ultimately the video/song is a quick prick to the balloon that suggests that in order to connect with other people we need to present these shiny-flawless images socially and hide our odd nuances under a bushel… But what all that green-screen, horse-hockey magic really does is make us feel isolated. And like little worms that don’t measure up. The video is a trumpet’s call to embrace the fact that, at our nitty gritty, we’re all just a couple of strange brained-lumpy bodies in skin-tight suits plucking on banjos and mandolins in front of someone’s garage in the middle of the afternoon. More or less.” — Bryan Simpson and Matt Menefee, The Golden Age

WATCH: Wild Rivers, “Kinda Feels Alright”

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Artist: Wild Rivers
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Song: “Kinda Feels Alright”
Album: Songs To Break Up To EP
Release Date: May 1, 2020
Label: Nettwerk

In Their Words: “‘Kinda Feels Alright’ holds an important place on the Songs To Break Up To EP, exploring the positive side of a breakup. It’s also a big part of the personal story of the record. It’s about beginning to accept a breakup and feel alright. Sonically, it feels like a bridge between a classic Wild Rivers song and the new territory we explore with the rest of the EP.” — Khalid Yassein, Wild Rivers

Photo credit: Stefan Kohli

WATCH: Saro Lynch-Thomason & Sam Gleaves, “1920”

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Artist: Saro Lynch-Thomason & Sam Gleaves
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “1920”
Album: I Have Known Women
Release Date: May 1, 2020
Label: Strictly Country Records

In Their Words: “This song was written to keep us mindful of the strong herstory of resisting oppression in the U.S. and to celebrate the centennial of the ratification of the 19th amendment. As this song states, ‘So much has changed. So much remains.’ There is much more work to be done before all U.S. residents are welcomed to participate in the democratic process. We hope that this song will serve as a reminder of the many generations of inspiring women who have brought us to this point in time, and inspire those in the present to keep fighting for justice and representation.” — Saro-Lynch Thomason and Sam Gleaves

Photo credit: Ben Bateson

WATCH: Grace Pettis, “Landon”

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Artist: Grace Pettis
Hometown: Mentone, Alabama; current residence is Austin, Texas
Song: “Landon”
Release Date: March 20, 2020
Label: MPress Records

In Their Words: I spent about ten years writing ‘Landon.’ It was a tough sentiment to get just right. Landon and I became best friends in a high school in a small town in Alabama. He came out right after graduation and I was one of a few trusted people. My job, in that moment, was to listen. Instead, I responded with a canned answer — one that was drilled into me by a devout Christian upbringing. I knew, deep down, that I was wrong. It took me years (I’m embarrassed by how many years) to confront my conscience and admit that to myself.

“In a lot of ways, my faith journey as a liberal Catholic was jump-started by these questions. It was scary. It was liberating. I felt closer to God than I ever had. By the time I’d figured out how to write the song and how to face up to it, we’d both come to a new place of understanding ourselves in the world. ‘Landon’ is an apology. When I play ‘Landon’ at shows, I like to dedicate it to anybody in the audience who’s owed an apology; one that’s many years coming. And then I dedicate it to anybody in the audience who owes somebody else an apology; one that’s many years in the making.” — Grace Pettis

Photo credit: Nicola Gell Photography