“I’m Fine” – Yellow Red Sparks
Yellow Red Sparks‘ Josh Hanson and Sara Lynn Nishikawa sing in perfect harmony (literally) in this delicious slice of alt-folk pie from their latest EP, New Fangs, Old Pangs. Of the EP with the curious title, Hanson says: “I think the inspiration came from some personal things I’d gone through, health things and family stuff; I felt like ‘new fangs’ represented a new toughness that I felt, going through these things that hurt me, and I felt like ‘old pangs’ are like old hurts. For me, the EP is about me going through things and overcoming things and coming out with stronger defense mechanisms.” “I’m Fine” is all about heartache, but it’s delightfully upbeat, and I almost feel guilty for having so much fun listening to it.
“Buzzards” – B R U N S
This fabulous folk rocker from Nashville’s B R U N S has an interesting backstory; “When I moved to Nashville, I noticed there were vultures everywhere, it’s cool. I don’t know if this is historically accurate, but I heard that there are so many here because a lot came during the Civil War, because of the death in the fields, and they’ve stayed here ever since. I was thinking about it one day when I was writing, and the idea popped into my head; I was being given a lot of advice from people, and I didn’t feel like a lot of it was what I needed to hear,” says frontman Tim Bruns. “All kinds of different people giving me all kinds of advice. I think the whole idea is like all these people circling and telling you what to do, pushing you to do what they want, but you have to decide what’s right for you.” I dig it.
“Break Bones” – Wild Child
This groovy number from indie folk powerhouse Wild Child is from their brand new album, Fools. The album shows them stretching the boundaries of their sound; lead vocalist and violinist Kelsey Wilson says that this song is her personal favorite from the album. “But Susan,” you may be asking, “how do you know that?” Well, because I asked her.
This band is tearing up the highways touring with Shakey Graves this very moment; if you haven’t seen them live, you should.
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