Tag: Video premiere

WATCH: Amelia White, “Free Advice”

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Artist: Amelia White
Hometown: East Nashville by way of Boston
Song: “Free Advice”
Album: Rhythm of the Rain

In Their Words: “This song has been building up in me from years of people telling me what to change in my appearance to become more successful. ‘If you’d try to smile more onstage / shed the glasses, four eyes only worked for Lisa Loeb / You’ve got good legs, how about a skirt and some heels?’ This is some of the ‘free advice’ I’ve gotten after shows, along with more than a few warnings that Nashville is a ‘five-year town’ and women especially have a window of time to ‘make it.’ Zoom out and the tune is simply about the sad (but kinda funny too) fact that women feel the need to double-triple-check how they look before stepping into the public view. I’m hoping to provide a little tragic-comedy here to say, ‘Just be real, you are more than enough, just as you are.'” –Amelia White

Photo credit: Stacie Huckeba

WATCH: Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, “Looking for the Bridge”

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Artist: Chris Jones & The Night Drivers
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Looking for the Bridge”
Album: The Choosing Road
Release Date: March 29, 2019
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “This is one of five songs from our upcoming CD that Jon Weisberger and I have co-written. This one is all about trying to find a way back to how things were in a relationship that has turned cold, and feeling lost in the effort. The song contains one of the Night Drivers’ characteristic ‘signature licks’ which had just randomly come into my brain one day, and I recorded it on my phone. This was the most enjoyable video recording experience we’ve ever had. It had lots of the elements we love: railroad tracks, a beautiful North Carolina river, and a dog barking at a drone (the dog does not appear in the video because he refused to sign a release). There was also a bridge, which apparently we couldn’t see.” — Chris Jones

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

WATCH: Lydia Luce, “Tangerine”

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Artist: Lydia Luce
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Tangerine”
Album: Azalea

In Their Words: “I started taking contemporary ballet classes at the Nashville Ballet where I met Erin Kouwe who teaches these amazing classes. We started chatting about doing a creative project together and I sent her my recent record Azalea for her to pick a song to create a choreography to. She picked my song, ‘Tangerine.’ Erin does a lot of work with Nashville’s contemporary ballet group called New Dialect. She hired several incredible dancers most of which are or have been in this group.

“The videographer/editor David Flores also a member of New Dialect. It was so lovely getting to work him because he knew what he wanted to see in our movements as an incredible dancer. Both Erin and I feel the importance of cross collaborating between artistic genres. Nashville may be known as a music city but there is an abundance in variety of arts here and I’d love to find new ways to keep collaborating with other types of artists.

“I wrote ‘Tangerine’ with Ian Fitchuk and Todd Lombardo last year. We were sipping on some Tangerine La Croix when inspiration struck. Todd is an incredible guitar player and he started playing the part that you hear on the track. Ian picked up a banjo and started using it percussively and that’s actually the sound that drive the song in the recording as well. It worked so well when we were writing it we decided to track it that way.

“‘Tangerine’ has a similar story to Dolly Parton’s song, ‘Jolene.’ The narrator is comparing themselves to this enchanting Tangerine character who she assumes has this great power of seduction that she doesn’t have. In the bridge she is asking her lover, ‘If I were more like her, would you look at me the same way?'” –Lydia Luce

Photo credit: Kane Stewart

WATCH: The East Pointers, “In Bloom”

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Artist: The East Pointers
Hometown: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Song: “In Bloom”
Release Date: March 6, 2019
Label: The East Pointers

In Their Words: “‘In Bloom’ has always been a favourite of ours — it’s such a great song with a very unique chord and melody vibe. A few days before playing Lee’s Palace in Toronto last year, we were chatting about how Nirvana played the same venue almost 30 years earlier. This was our acoustic tribute to them that night!” — The East Pointers

Photo credit: Jen Squires

WATCH: Bill and the Belles, “That’ll Be Just Fine”

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Artist name: Bill and the Belles
Hometown: Johnson City, Tennessee
Song: “That’ll Be Just Fine”

In Their Words: “We’re excited to share a new side of Bill and the Belles, a bigger, moodier, more decade-ambiguous sound! We wanted to nod toward early R&B and girl group pop vocals (think early Sam Phillips-era Sun Records, the Shangri-Las), while growing our instrumental backdrop with the introduction of stride piano and drums. Working with Bristol’s Big Tone Records was a thrill: we’re no strangers to vintage recording methods, and we think the warmth and depth of recording to tape really suits us. In the glow of fluorescent lights in an unmarked building in Southwest Virginia, the Big Tone studio accomplishes something remarkable: each microphone, each piece of furniture, even the clock on the wall carries a story, and with ‘That’ll Be Just Fine,’ we’re working to carry that narrative forward.” –Bill and the Belles

Photo credit: Nico LaRoche-Humby

WATCH: Bluegrass Pride, “Live and Let Live”

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Artist: Bluegrass Pride
Hometown: San Francisco, California
Song: “Live and Let Live” (feat. Justin Hiltner, Melody Walker, and Laurie Lewis)
Release Date: February 22, 2019

In Their Words: “This song was written in honor of Bluegrass Pride during our first season and almost immediately became our unofficial anthem here in San Francisco. Its message of inclusion and unqualified acceptance speaks to the exact mission of Bluegrass Pride and the way we want the world to be. Making this music video was really a way for us to show people what Bluegrass Pride is really about. When you watch this video and listen to this song, you can truly feel the community that made it and all the love that makes Bluegrass Pride so special. As we continue to grow, we hope that folks can take this message with them, and maybe, in the end, we can spread a little more unconditional love throughout the world and make tomorrow a little bit better.”

Photo credit: Michael Pegram

WATCH: The Chapin Sisters, “Lost”

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Artist: The Chapin Sisters
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York (Abigail), and Hudson Valley, New York (Lily)
Song: “Lost”
Album: Ferry Boat
Label: Loantaka Records

In Their Words: “This song was written as a little finger-picking ditty on the guitar, but when Evan Taylor (producer/bandmate) heard it he visualized the string-like strains of the Mellotron lifting into the solo which creates a dreamlike ambiance. This song was written at the nadir of US political despair — post-election 2016 — right after Trump was elected when we were trying to navigate this fear and uncertainty. It is a meditation on remembering to stay in the now, choose hope over despair. For me regret can arise out of thin air. It can keep me up at night, chewing at my insides. The only way out of it is meditation, gratitude, hope. There is a children’s book* that says, ‘when you are lost it is the easiest place to be found.‘ And it’s true that often my songs come out of late night sleepless rambles. We need hope these days, and togetherness. This song is about that.” — Lily Chapin

Photo credit: Sita Marlier
Video directed by Alec Coiro
*children’s book is Emily Winfield Martin’s The Littlest Family’s Big Day

WATCH: Rachael Kilgour, “Game Changer”

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Artist: Rachael Kilgour
Hometown: Duluth, Minnesota
Song: “Game Changer”
Album: Game Changer
Release Date: Feb 1, 2019
Label: NewSong Recordings

In Their Words: “After my divorce I took a long time to think about what kind of person I wanted to be and how best to share that self with another human. I obsessively deconstructed our ideas of romance and relationship and tried to pinpoint what exactly made a connection a healthy one. I met my current partner after a few years of living a fulfilling single life and was heartened to find someone who shared my sense of cynicism. With equal portions of self-awareness, hope and caution, we forged a relationship I have grown very fond of.” — Rachael Kilgour

Photo credit: Darin Kamnetz

WATCH: Abigail Lapell, “Down by the Water”

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Artist: Abigail Lapell
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
Song: “Down by the Water”
Album: Getaway
Release Date: February 1, 2019
Label: Coax Records

In Their Words: “‘Down by the Water’ is a springtime song, so there’s a lot of imagery of renewal or redemption, and even some biblical symbolism, suggesting an escape to a better place — whether literal or metaphorical. The song evokes the idea of getting away somewhere isolated, away from the world, in order to rediscover your voice or calling — something that ultimately deepens your sense of connection to the world. Like a songwriting retreat!

“I love singing with Dana Sipos, who’s featured on this song and is an amazing songwriter — and people often tell us we sound like sisters, which is a bonkers compliment to me because she has one of my favourite voices of all time. We’ve toured together a bunch (including by bike and canoe) so we’ve had a good amount of practice singing on each other’s songs. For this tune we recorded live-off-the-floor in the studio, in a room together; no headphones or isolation, just a guitar and our two voices. So it’s one of the simplest arrangements on the album.

“This was my first time making a music video, and it was a really fun and surprisingly time-intensive process. It was filmed by Brittany Farhat at Union Sound Studios in Toronto, which is such a beautiful (and photogenic!) space, and I edited it very slowly over several months. Also featured in the video is Chris Stringer, my wonderful producer, who was one of a small team that started the studio — they built it literally from the ground up a few years ago. It’s also where I met my fiancé, while working on my last album there. So this video and location are particularly special to me.” — Abigail Lapell

Photo credit: Gaelle Legrand

WATCH: NewTown, “Long Hard Road”

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Artist name: NewTown
Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky
Song: “Long Hard Road”
Album: Old World
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “This is one of the coolest tunes Tyler Childers has written. It speaks about the hardship of a long-distance relationship, something I’m sure a lot of folks can connect with. The video for the song was such a joy to make, surrounded by a few close friends and family. We used The Burl in Lexington, Kentucky, for the shoot — a beautiful venue! We hope people will enjoy the labor we put into this; we think it was well worth it. Enjoy!!” — Jr. Williams, NewTown banjo player and vocalist

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither