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Video Premiere: “Around We Go” by Jeff Caudill
California singer-songwriter Jeff Caudill, who shot to prominence with world-touring pop-punk band Gameface in the early 1990s, embarked on an acoustic, earthier, singer/songwriter journey in the early 2000’s. With a steady stream of solo releases and a Gameface reunion under his musical belt, the ever-progressing and adventurous Caudill wrote a decidedly Americana six-song concept EP called Reset The Sun, his first non-autobiographical group of songs.
“‘Around We Go’ is definitely a high point on Reset The Sun,” Caudill explains of the EP’s fifth track. “It’s a moment of reflection and realization after a long time of running from blame and mistakes of the past. Structurally, it’s different from most songs – most of mine at least,” he continues. “Instead of doing the traditional verse, chorus, verse… it goes verse, verse, bridge, bridge, chorus forever.”
The song embodies the road-worn alt-country vibe of Reset The Sun; “Now my busted rear view mirror is useless/I try to justify the reasons I do this – living on nostalgia for what might have been,” he sings, his weariness rimmed with hopeful optimism. The video for “Around We Go” features our hero on the road, appropriately enough, playing a character he knows best—himself. “I love how the video turned out. We shot it in Houston last month with Upstart Film,” he says. “These guys are super talented and fun and and they nailed the vibe of the song. I pretty much just played myself and everything just fell into place,” he adds. “It says everything I wanted it to say.”
Without further ado, Mother Church Pew proudly presents “Around We Go,” the new video from Jeff Caudill:
Purchase Reset The Sun: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/reset-the-sun-ep/id1190610633
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Interview: The Company Stores
Eclectic: selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles. Few embody those characteristics like West Virginia musical collective The Company Stores, who released a brand new album, Little Lights, in April. “We’ve been a band for about four years now— people have told us that we should focus on one genre and sound, but the more we create with this sound we have, the more we realize that’s the sound we want,” says band vocalist Casey Litz. “We all love different types of music, and we bring them all into the band.”
It’s true, The Company Stores explore everything from Appalachian string band sounds to Delta blues, to festival-style jams, calling their unique style “folk fusion.” “Why would we limit ourselves to one sound or one type of music?” asks guitarist Matt Marks. “I was listening to an album recently, and about four songs into it, I got bored. Every time I write a song, I want it to be different than the one before; there may be similarities in my style, but I always want to challenge myself as a writer,” he adds. “Doing the same thing over and over limits your artistic capability.”
Featuring multi-talented members—like a trombonist and keys player who is also an orchestral composer, and an Appalachian fiddler who is also a jazz trumpeter—boring is not a word used to describe anything about this band, who are proud to be from West Virginia, and pay homage to their home with the band’s name. “Our name is really representative of where we are from,” explains Marks. “West Virginia is one of the poorest states, and a lot of our people feel trapped in many ways. West Virginia has a way of beating down on people; in coal towns, the mine companies own everything. They pay their employees in scrip, and the workers don’t have money or assets,” he continues. “We are trying to get outside of West Virginia and show the world there is serious art here.” “Looking back at coal towns, there’s a dark history, and we’re here to tell those stories,” dos Litz. “You can go into a company store and find a little of everything, and that’s exactly what we bring to the table.”
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Interview: The Gage Brothers
“We grew up playing music, but it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that Ben and I started playing together,” recalls Zach Gage of appropriately-named, Ohio-based, rootsy string band The Gage Brothers. “There is five years’ difference between us, and most of our lives, we were more interested in picking on each other than working together,” laughs brother Ben. “We were each doing our own thing, but at that point in our lives, neither of us really had an outlet for our music,” adds Zach. “We came together and it worked.”
The pair started experimenting with traditional folk songs, paying their dues at local open mic nights, and picking up brothers from other mothers–mandolin player Brendan O’Malley banjoist Chris Volpe–along the way to round out the lineup. “We played as a duo for about a year and a half, but that second year, we ran into Brendan O’Malley, who was a bartender at the venue we were playing. He messaged us and said he was a mandolin player and asked if he could sit in with us. We said what the heck, at the very least, he’s the bartender so maybe he will give us a few extra beers,” laughs Ben. “He sat in and he was fantastic. That same month we met Chris Volpe at a show; he was playing guitar and is a singer/songwriter who also plays banjo; he sat in with us at a pig roast we played. We fell in love. They’re great guys.”
The newly-minted Gage Brothers lineup set about blazing a trail and making rootsy tunes to feed the souls and delight the ears of the eager masses. “We grew up in a working family in a farm town. That style of music always resonated with us,” explains Zach. “It felt true to who we are. There’s not a large bluegrass scene here yet, and sometimes it can feel like we’re doing our own thing our own way, which can be good but can also be more work at times,” he adds. “We’re proud of it though, and we hope this style of music in this scene will catch on and reach a wider audience.” “It’s a very blue collar state, there’s a lot of industry and industry attracts a certain kind of person; there are a lot of hard-working people here,” says Ben. “Folk music is big here, bluegrass is up-and-coming. It’s exciting to be on the cusp of that.”
Now, the four-piece is preparing to release their self-titled sophomore album on Friday, May 5th; “On this album, there are blues tunes, bluegrass, folk, and Americana,” explains Ben. “When we first started, a big thing for us was harmony; over time, we discovered more music and wrote more music inspired by more people. Having two other people in the band who could sing gave us more harmonies, and this album showcases what we do live, we love that four part harmony,” he concludes of their honed sound. “It sets our music apart.”
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Review: Mary Bragg – Lucky Strike
With a wide berth of songwriting freedom and a life-earned perspective on her artistic evolution, Mary Bragg has crafted an honest and personal collection of Americana poetry for her upcoming album, Lucky Strike. Bragg’s new album is her fourth overall, but her first as part of the Nashville music family. With earnest lyrics and country-washed instrumentation, it’s easy to see that her new city suits her.It took some encouragement for Bragg to record a new album, as she had found success and satisfaction in focusing on her songwriting craft. When she decided to make Lucky Strike, it was on her own terms–creating honest works and foregoing the overpriced studio time. The result of her vision is a heartfelt exploration of her artistic journey told through remarkably relatable lyrical craft.
While her artistic compass has never wavered, her path to the creation of this album has had many twists and turns. Her life explorations have deep influences on the themes of Lucky Strike. “Drifter’s Hymn” is a mesmerizing blend of haunting vocals, acoustic guitar, and wandering flourishes of piano, likely influenced by her travels as a musician. “My trail is a whisper/I’m just a drifter” Bragg reflects.
Bragg’s first stop after leaving her home town was a huge jump, going from a small Georgia town to New York City. There, she had to learn from rejection, stand tall to get noticed, and foster a drive to never settle until reaching her goals. The trials of her path are embodied on the album’s namesake track “Lucky Strike,” a soul-baring introspection riding on reverb-filled guitar. Bragg describes the song as a “bit of a sarcastic poke at hopefulness,” but the song easily connects as we all seek that one thing that will make all of the pieces of our dreams come together.
Love is another thematic force on Lucky Strike. Ranging from the wistful, maybe even hopeful, post-breakup twang of “Think About Me” to the tender soul-searching passion of “Wildfire,” Bragg, with her yearning vocals, explores the vast emotional nuances of romance and envisions a relationship forged through deep connection.
Whether accompanied by upbeat acoustic licks or aching pedal steel, Bragg’s crystalline voice is the centerpiece of the album that elevates this revealing glimpse into her soul. Lucky Strike carries a distinctive authenticity, born through the intimate connection made with the listener through her vulnerable, soul-baring lyrics.
Purchase Lucky Strike: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lucky-strike/id1223116733
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Interview: Rogue + Jaye
Los Angeles-by-way-of-Nashville-based singer/songwriter Courtney Jaye has an adventurous spirit and an incurable case of wanderlust. “I love the Grateful Dead, and at a very early age, I gravitated to that culture of touring and seeing the world through music,” she reveals. “I’ve always wanted to see as much as I could in this life.” Taking up residence in various locales over the years, the singer was profoundly impacted by time spent living in Hawaii. “All the time that I was living in Nashville, I kept saying that one day I wanted to live near the ocean again,” she recalls. “Years would pass, and finally it was going to be a decade that I had lived in Nashville, and I just said ‘I gotta do it, and I gotta do it now.’ For some reason, I have this crazy connection to the Pacific Ocean. Also, I needed a change; I felt like I have lived in an array of different places, everywhere from Atlanta to Athens to Flagstaff to Hawaii to Austin to San Diego to L.A., and I’d spend three years tops at a certain place. I spent nine years in Nashville, which says, to me, a lot about that city,” she continues. “It was time for me to shake things up a little bit.”
In the midst of contemplating big changes, Jaye’s publishing company, Rough Trade, had scheduled a co-writing session with Zach Rogue of indie rock outfit Rogue Wave. “ I was a big Rogue Wave fan, so I was like ‘Of course!’ We got together and wrote a song, we instantly clicked as people. We were singing these harmonies and looking at each other like ‘Oh! That sounds pretty good!’ and then went about our lives,” she explains. Several months later, the pair reconnected to write, and unexpectedly shared an epiphany. “It was this revelation of ‘You realize, we have to make a record.’” she says with a laugh.
On Friday, May 5th, the partnership, now a band called Rogue + Jaye, will release their debut album, Pent Up. “When Zach and I met, we connected on a friendship level. I felt very comfortable talking to him about what I was going through in my life at the time, and there was a lot—I’d been in a car accident a couple of years before, and physically, I was still healing from that,” she reveals. “I was also in a relationship that was not the best for me–I was continuously trying to end it and heal from that, but it kept reigniting. I would find myself back in this relationship, and it wasn’t right. He was really instrumental in helping me sort out all my emotions at that time. It wasn’t on purpose, it was just every time we got together, the conversation shifted to what was going on in my life because it was a really big life lesson time for me. That’s why the album is called Pent Up, there was all this stuff boiling and bubbling over in me,” she says. “It took having a musical partner like that to sort everything out, there was just so much.”
The album combines beautifully haunting harmonies with dreamy Americana sensibilities, influenced by their shared loved of Buckingham Nicks and choosing specific session players to join the duo in the studio. “We had no preconceived notions going into`the making of it. We recorded in about six days,” she recalls. “Everything took on a life of its own from there.” Pent Up was created in 2015, but after schedule conflicts and Jaye’s relocation to Los Angeles, the time was finally right to release the record. “I’m excited to share it, give it away, and release all this stuff. I don’t feel like that happens until the music can be heard by everyone. Zach and I are already writing new songs. I’m ready to move forward,” she concludes. “We hope people enjoy it.”
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“Coming Back Around” – New Video from Saints Eleven
Dallas, Texas-based trio Saints Eleven create a soul-stirring concoction of bluegrass and punk-infused honky tonk, a sound that embodies the wild and free spirit of the Lonestar State. Songwriter and frontman Jeff Grossman explores the mistakes he’s made and the pain he’s endured, and proudly wears his battle scars like war medals, using his soulful, emotive vocals, carried on a cloud of country-fried strings and twang, to captivate even the most timid listeners.
“I wish I could take back the words I said,” sings Grossman, as we witness a barroom brawl happening in reverse; the band’s new video for “Coming Back Around,” the title track of their latest album, features the three piece outfit as they perform in the middle of a surreal scene. Check it out:
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Interview: Brent Cowles
“A couple of years ago I had a conversation with Nathaniel Rateliff after one of his shows,” recalls folk rocker Brent Cowles. “He was like, ‘A lot of people have influenced me that were guys with acoustic guitars. If I could give you one piece of advice man, get an electric guitar and start a band.’ That stuck with me, and made me realize there was a lot more out there as far as songwriting goes and experimenting with different things.” Cowles did just that—he acquired an electric guitar and began collaborating with former Churchill drummer Joe Richmond, who has produced and engineered Cowles’ new material, and also plays drums in his band. “That connection is when things really began to move in the direction they are now,” he continues. “As soon as we started making loud rock n’ roll music, I just found a whole new appreciation for what we were doing.”
For Cowles, whose debut solo EP Cold Times was released on April 28th via Dine Alone Records and Greater Than Collective, electrified rockicana was a step in a new direction. His former band of ten years, You Me & Apollo, embraced the acoustic folk realm; “It was fun and a huge learning experience for me. I’m very proud of everything we did. When we disbanded art the end of 2014, the music I was producing had started to change, it was a little more rock n’ roll,” he recalls. “You Me & Apollo was very dynamic in sound—we liked to go from nothing to everything and touches in between. This new material was more ‘bring your dancin’ shoes because we’re gonna rock out.’”
Rock out he did—the EP features five explosive tracks, including singles “Lift Me Up” and the album’s title track. “‘Lift Me Up’ is a picture of some dark places I’ve been in my life,” he reveals. “I like hearing something I can relate to, that I’ve experienced as well. It’s like therapy for me, having music that gives people something to relate to. ‘Cold Times’ talks about how divided we are as people. It seems like people feel like they need to pick a side rather than just figure out how to coexist in peace and let people be individuals instead of trying to convince people your way is the only way. You have to recognize the issues that are going on in order to initiate conversation or change, so that’s where that song comes from.” The Denver-based Cowles believes he has a duty to use his music to start that conversation.”If you have a platform, you should use it for things you believe in; there’s a way to do that tactfully. I don’t ever want to force my opinions on anybody, but I do think it’s important to call out the bullshit that’s out there and get people talking about it,” he explains. “It’s important to stay in the now and be present and know what’s happening around the world”
This soundscape is new to fans, but for Cowles, he’s merely embracing his roots. “My dad’s side of the family is all from Tennessee, and I grew up around this style of music,” he says. “I still think cowboys are badass, I love old Westerns, I used to watch Tombstone with my Pops all the time. It comes out naturally for me,” he adds. “It’s fun to have some twang.”
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Premiere: “Tired Of Being Tired” by Todd Adelman and the Country Mile
Colorado-based singer/songwriter Todd Adelman will release his sixth full-length album, Time Will Tell, on May 12th; Adelman notes that the title sums up the album’s tracks. “Though I named the album and wrote these songs a few years back, they are more pertinent than ever given the current state of affairs,” he said. “This record straddles the line of looking at the past, questioning the present, and hoping for the future.”
Committed to the art of storytelling, Adelman finds inspiration as he goes about his daily life; album opener “Tired Of Being Tired,” is a commentary on overcommitment, and well, of being tired. “If there were a few words to describe this point in time and the place I and many of my peers am/are in, I would use ‘distracted’ and ‘rushed,’ he explains. “Though I live in the hills amidst trees, Boulder is a frenetic place that reminds me more of my home city of New York than of what I moved here for back in 1989. The town has changed and with it the way of life. This combined with the fact that I have 2 girls — 7 and 11, a day job, a wife, a non-profit, a recording studio, a gigging career, and at the core I am an artist, I find my plate overflowing,” he continues. “I switched jobs a few years back and was at odds with management. I had been there a long time and felt mistreated and from that was born the first line of the song – ‘I’m tired of this chair.’ It has a double meaning actually — not only my physical chair at the office, but also the seat in which I sit in in the world.”
“Many artists these days, and probably always for that matter, struggle with the dichotomy of a double life and this is a piece of the message,” he adds. “I often think about a change of pace and relocating to a place with a slow pace and whether I do it while my kids are still at home or after they have gone, I expect it will happen. At that point, I am sure I will write a song about boredom, lethargy and fishing.”
With his folksy-rock delivery and just the right amount of twang, Adelman and his band, The Country Mile, meet us where we are, and deliver something to which we can all relate. Without further ado, Mother Church Pew proudly presents “Tired Of Tired” by Todd Adelman and the Country Mile:
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Interview: BJ Wilbanks
Photo: Evan Leavitt “When I was kid, my granddad showed me some gospel music licks on the guitar,” recalls blue-eyed soul man BJ Wilbanks. “I got interested in playing, but didn’t take it seriously until I was a teenager, and I started writing, kind of out of necessity for me. It was like therapy for heartbreak and all that stuff. You most impactful memories are usually the saddest ones. I follow Willie Nelson’s ideology, I write my best at my worst,” he laughs. “Feeling bad and a little guitar knowledge got me started.”
The Georgia-based Wilbanks will release his full-length self-titled album on April 28th, recorded in what looked like a basement bomb shelter in Marietta. “There was no ego in the studio; the only way you’re going to make something of value or something with heart is if you get yourself the hell out of it. The most amazing music is the most vulnerable,” he declares. “People asked me what I was going for on the album, but I didn’t really have a plan, I just wanted to put together the songs I thought were the best at the time, things I dug, and things I could tell the crowd really dug. It’s a snapshot of my life at a certain time. There’s not really theme; it’s a conglomeration of me, a cohesive representation of the different styles I like,” he adds. “I’m a musical omnivore, I like it all.”
When the nine piece band assembled in the studio, Wilbanks swears it was pure magic. “You’re lucky if you have a moment during recording where you say ‘holy crap, that was awesome.’ When we had one of those I was blown away, but we ended up having way too many to count—those hair-on-the-back-of-our-necks-standing-up, tingling, emotional responses to recording this music, and you can feel that love and vibration coming through on the songs. That energy is there,” he conitnues. “I’ve never experienced so many moments like that.” It’s true, that energy virtually oozes through the speakers; imagine a blend the best elements of 60s R&B, retro soul, and southern rock into a laid-back, rootsy concoction that’s smoother than, as Chris Stapleton might say, Tennessee whiskey, and Wilbanks’ rich, smokey voice cuts through those beautiful layers like a hot knife through honey-flavored butter. Have mercy.
“I write a lot about the interconnection we all should have,” he says. “I don’t get too into mysticism, but I feel like everybody knows that we’re all connected in some way, and I hope this music makes them feel that connection. We’re spiritual beings, and the closest way to get to that connection is through music,” concludes Wilbanks. “I’ve never found a better source.”
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Video Premiere: “Bison” by Anouk Asunder
Nashville-based indie folk outfit Anouk Asunder will release their album, ROAM, on June 16th. The album, inspired by frontwoman Iris Dutour’s move to the United States six years ago and the accompanying emotional experiences of growth, choices made, and lessons learned, is the band’s debut effort.
“I always liked the connotation of the words ‘to roam,’” Dutour explains of the album’s title. “There really isn’t a word in the French language that means the same thing. Roaming, to me, means that we have to wander, sometimes far from the nest to figure out and experience for ourselves who we are and what we want to do with our lives.” Today, the group unleashes the video for “Bison,” their first single from ROAM, a dreamy campfire song of minor chords and major contemplation. “When I left France seven years ago to see what was waiting for me across the ocean, I got a tattoo on my left shoulder of a bison,” Dutour recalls. “A bison to remind me when I feel low and hopeless, that I have to keep moving forward as my journey is not over.”
“I wrote ‘Bison’ a few years ago, but it’s only recently after revisiting the song and bringing it to the band that it felt finished and ready to be recorded,” she continues. “It is a song about opening up to the person you are to become. I wanted the lyrics to reflect, through nature-filled images, how it feels inside to go through the ups and downs of life. How even though self doubt and fear can be overpowering, there is always something that keeps me going forward and trust that I am carried with each step that I take. Something telling me to keep roaming.” The song’s video, filmed in the Tennessee countryside, is a fitting visual interpretation of the track’s ethereal sensibility, freedom, and natural beauty, featuring the band playing and dancing in a sun-washed landscape.
Without further ado, Mother Church pew proudly presents “Bison,” the new video from Anouk Asunder: