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Interview: Colton Kayser
“Life is too long to be with someone wrong” sings New Jersey-based singer/songwriter Colton Kayser in “Bad Guy”, a track from his newly-released album, Place To Settle. I wrote that song as a reaction to getting shot down for a date, it changed from ‘I’m not a bad guy’ to ‘I’m not THE bad guy’,” he says with a laugh.
Kayser, who is currently making a name for himself in the re-emerging Asbury Park music scene, got his first guitar at the ripe old age of 11, started singing at 12, and then began performing in public. Songwriting came shortly after, and he naturally gravitated towards folk and alt-country. “I feel like that kind of music tells a story, it has something to say. A lot of pop music doesn’t say much of anything,” he laughs, “And the idea of telling a whole story in the span of four minutes was appealing to me. A good chorus tells you all you need to know.”
After finishing college and graduate school, Kayser worked for a year to save money to make the new album. Tracked live, with five musicians connecting and playing in the same room together, spontaneous energy can be heard in every track. The subject matter explores the age-old topics of love and loss, with some inspiration from his family’s experience living through and dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. “I live six blocks away from the Atlantic Ocean. On one side of my house is a river; the house I grew up in ended up with about two feet of water in it. It took three years for my dad to be able to get back into the house,” he recalls. “Hurricane Sandy had a big impact on my family. We ran out of power for 12 or 13 days. I wrote ‘As Kids’, the last song on the album, during that time.”
Asbury Park is the right place for Kayser, who says that it’s a melting pot of sounds, housing everything from punk to alt-country. “It has really exploded in the last five years, it’s come back in a big way. The infrastructure is there, there are several clubs we can play, there’s a professional recording studio,” he explains. “You’re definitely going to see more bands coming from Asbury Park.”
Now that Place To Settle has been released, keep a lookout for Kayser, who is readying for a tour of the East Coast and the South. Until then, take a gander at Place To Settle:
Purchase Place To Settle: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/place-to-settle/id1122691729
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Album Premiere: “Come On Home” by Greg Cornell & The Cornell Brothers
Brooklyn-based four-piece acoustic roots music outfit, Greg Cornell & The Cornell Brothers–siblings in music (but not in fact)–will release their brand new LP, Come On Home, on Tuesday August 2nd.
Produced by band member Adam Moss and engineered by three-time Grammy Award winner Justin Guip, the album features gems brought to life by the band’s tight three-part harmonies and excellent musicianship. Cornell’s songs are influenced as much by his literary heroes (Whitman, Emerson, Thoreau) as they are by his musical ones (John Prine, Gram Parson, Levon Helm, Neil Young, 1970’s bluegrass). He writes of regret turning into redemption, and holding onto hope through travail–timely stories about immigration, the (in)justice system, The Trail of Tears, betrayal, love, work and, of course, hope.
“The songs on the album (half of which I co-wrote with Sarah Johnson, Todd Willison, Kurt Olsen or Adam Moss, and one that is a poem by Walt Whitman) all fit under the theme of the song “Come On Home”, whose lyrics were written by my old friend and college roommate Kurt Olsen. I think the songs are about overcoming despair, pain and injustice, through struggle, ending in hope, which is like coming home,” says Cornell of the new album. ” I’m just not that interested in bitterness, self-pity or cynicism, I am interested in struggling to find ways out of those very human conditions.”
“A lot of the characters in the songs find themselves in dire circumstances, but their sense of hope helps them find a path out of that,” he continues. “There are some songs on the record dealing with injustice, but I tried not to tell the stories in a strictly political way; they are not so much protest songs as they are about an individual’s struggle to not get his or her soul crushed by the injustice that is inflicted on them.”
Without further ado, Mother Church Pew is proud to present Come On Home by Greg Cornell & The Cornell Brothers:
Purchase Come On Home: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/gregcornellthecornellbro
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Sam Lewis to Perform at Cornelia Fort Pickin’ Party
Nashville-based troubadour Sam Lewis says he comes from “multiple backgrounds”— “I went to 20 public schools growing up, we traveled a lot. My dad was never really satisfied with what little means the universe gave us, so the grass was always greener on the other side,” he recalls. “I was always the new kid. Because of that, I was conditioned to be tolerant and to dream, which serendipitously, enabled me to be able to adapt to the traveling artist lifestyle.”Eight years ago, Lewis became enamored with Nashville and its strong sense of community, musical and otherwise, and decided to call the Music City home. “I wanted to meet talented people and learn from them. Now, I no longer work at Walmart, I’m a full-time touring musician, and I’m talking to you!” he says with a laugh.
Two albums later, he’s smarter and hairier, but all the magic of being a career musician hasn’t been lost. “I’m a big believer in community. I’ve been asked to do a lot of things, I’ve done a lot of charity work, i jump right in. Nashville’s my home, I’ve lived here longer than I’ve lived anywhere—anything I can do of the folks around me who believe in what I’m doing and who want to make a difference, I’m all for it.” So, when he was asked to participate in a benefit to preserve a beloved Nashville park, it was a no-brainer.
Lewis is set to perform tomorrow, July 30th, along with The Glade City Rounders, at the Cornelia Fort Pickin’ Party, a series of shows representative of East Nashville’s thriving roots and Americana music scene, to preserve one of the city’s most unique landmarks. The historic Cornelia Fort Air Park was named after Cornelia Fort, an East Nashville debutante who bucked her heritage and the gender divide of the time to become a skilled pilot and flight instructor. Cornelia joined the Woman’s Air Force to ferry airships for the American Forces, and in 1943 died in a flight mishap. Consequently, at the age of 24 she became the first female aviator to die in war service of the United States. For decades, Cornelia Fort Air Park was the busiest privately owned Air Park in America until it closed in the wake of the 2010 flood that devastated the city; damage from the flood has served to be too much to overcome without the community’s support.
Because of monies raised from the series last year, organizers were able to make infrastructure improvements to the existing hangars, which are used by people and their pets, and Little League batting practice,among other things. Producer Todd Jarrell says, “We wanted to host an event that would bring together and allow all ages to enjoy this unique space. It is a green oasis amidst a metropolis, and it’s a space where ideas are meant to take flight!”
Admission to the Pickin’ Party is $12.00 in advance $15.00 at the door and includes a drink ticket for one adult beverage. Musicians are encouraged to bring an instrument for an extra drink ticket and jam the night away starting at 6:00 PM. For more information about Sam Lewis please visit: http://samlewistunes.com/ and more information on the Glade City Rounders visit: https://www.facebook.com/TheGladeCityRounders/
To volunteer or purchase tickets, visit: www.friendsofshelby.org
2016 CORNELIA FORT PICKING PARTY PERFORMERS
July 30th – Sam Lewis / Glade City Rounders
August 27th – Howlin’ Brothers / Bill & The Belles
September 17th – Brazilbilly (with Jesse Lee Jones) / Ashleigh Caudill
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Album Review: Excuses – Cereus Bright
Nashville may be the country music capital, but musical greatness can be found throughout the fine state of Tennessee. Cereus Bright, an alt-folk five-piece hailing from Knoxville, are up-and-coming legends in their own right. Their debut album, Excuses, is a songwriting masterpiece. We’ve all encountered albums housing songs that all sound the same, with little to no style or mood variation throughout. Excuses is not that album. Tracks like album opener “Claustrophobic” are upbeat and leave you feeling warm, hopeful, and comforted. The band uses that same bouncy spirit to convey dark sarcasm and a witty message in “The American Dream,” as they sing “You can be anything you want/But you’re nothing at all/The American Dream is falling into nothing at all”– words that ring in my ears and burden my soul with the harsh reality of a timely message. “Hindenburg” also features darker lyrics, but the song’s killer guitar solo says more than any words can. The record finishes beautifully with the hopeful “Cereus Bright”, which showcases lullaby-esque harmony, yearning fiddle swells, and simple instrumentation.
As dark as it is upbeat and whimsical, Cereus Bright’s new album is destined to be a classic. Don’t make excuses, this one is a must for your collection.
Purchase Excuses: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/excuses/id1130770023
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Interview: JD Wilkes
“I always liked acting up and playing piano, I thought I’d always be a cartoonist though, it’s my first love. There’s no way I ever imagined this would be my life. I mean, I don’t really even know what it is I do now, as an adult. I can’t describe it, it’s strange, but it’s fun, whatever it is,” laughs JD Wilkes, the high-powered frontman of veteran rockabilly outfit, the Legendary Shack Shakers. The band, whose fans include Robert Plant and Stephen King, has been making a ruckus since the mid-90s; members have come and gone, but the constant has been Wilkes, whose electrified performance style is, as he says, “fueled by Red Bull and bourbon. It just comes out naturally, a lot of it is my upbringing in a charismatic church, being a ham, and watching a lot of cartoons. My performance style reflects my passion for music. And Ren & Stimpy cartoons.”
The path to his rockabilly present was paved with youthful folly, testosterone, and a love of true American music. “When I realized I could make that kind of music with like-minded people, and love the way that feels, it was addictive. It’s like a bug that bites, like any drug. It gets in your system; you get a rush of affirmation from your audience. It’s undone a lot of damage from the high school years, it came in handy, and ultimately it’s been a good thing,” he says. “Revenge of the nerds!”
Wilkes, a bona fide Kentucky Colonel, has many irons in many fires; still an avid cartoonist, he has several musical side projects, has made a documentary film, is preparing for an early fall solo tour with Dex Romweber of the Flat Duo Jets, and is a published author. His novel, The Vine That Ate The South, comes out next year, and will coincide with the release of the next Legendary Shack Shakers album, tentatively named After You’ve Gone; “The lyrical material deals with my recent divorce, it’s the most personal record I’ve ever done. It runs the gamut—from tearjerkers to absolute raging, angry tunes. I tried to capture each emotion I was experiencing in a song,” explains Wilkes. “It’s a well-rounded representation of what I went through.”
The band released album Southern Surreal in 2015, and Lower Broadway Lo-Fi this year; after playing several shows and festivals this summer, they will head to Europe in November. If you’re in the Nashville area, you can catch their unforgettable performance live and in person at The Mercy Lounge on Saturday, July 29th.
“We’re not mainstream and we don’t have to fit in any kind of trend—that will wear you out, trying to keep up with trends,” Wilkes says of the band’s longevity. “I just keep up with myself and what I like to hear, I stay fascinated with what I like, and what appeals to my ear. All people have to do is look as the world around them, it’s easy to stay fresh. There are so many songs to be written, so many gigs to play, so many people to make happy. It’s a never-ending labor of love.”
Purchase tickets to the Nashville show: http://mercylounge.com/calendar/?event_id=6584965
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Album Review: The Bird & The Rifle – Lori McKenna
Lori McKenna is the kind of woman that gets her five children to school, then comes home to fold a load of laundry before Taylor Swift comes over for a writing session. She’s the kind of woman who writes Grammy award-winning songs that brim with the wisdom of one who knows life inside and out, and who tells the stories of every woman in her soft, heart-wrenching voice. Lori Mckenna is the kind of woman I, and a multitude of others, aspire to become.Her newest album, The Bird & The Rifle, out July 29th via CN Records and distributed by Thirty Tigers, houses ten unassumingly brilliant songs brought to life by producer Dave Cobb and is irrefutable proof of her creative power.
McKenna explores how the pursuit of a career can affect the loved ones left behind in “Wreck You”; the album’s title track, whose name was interestingly inspired by a character’s line in the television show “Modern Family”, examines an unbalanced and dangerous relationship between a lonely woman (“the bird”) and a neglectful man (“the rifle”). She delves into the lyrically clever metaphor consistently throughout, painting the bird as a daydreamer who wants to spread her wings, a fact which brings the “rifle” out in the man, who fears her flight will not bring her back to him. McKenna sings of giving up on her hometown, of feeling used but still settling for less, of being weary of games lovers play. She implores us to stay humble and be kind in the aptly-titled “Humble & Kind”, a gracefully-delivered letter of advice written to her children, but which couldn’t be more timely given the troubled state of our society.
“Old Men Young Women”, another fine example of her writing prowess, examines a well-known relational dance—“Old men, young women/Only work in the beginning/She’s the past in a summer dress/He’s a ride in a red Corvette/She’s a prize he’s winning/She thinks it is what it isn’t”. The lyrics viscerally skewer the clichéd pairing, but McKenna delivers them in a tenderly honest way that never seems preachy. She writes and sings of situations we all encounter, opening each subject like a book, inviting us to explore with her. In fact, each of her songs is a skillfully-crafted snapshot of how she views life. McKenna calls it like she sees it, and she’s spot on.
Purchase The Bird & The Rifle: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-bird-the-rifle/id1121556699
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Premiere: “Sometimes, The Road” by Stewart Eastham
Northern California-bred Nashville-based Americana troubadour, Stewart Eastham, is planning to release a brand new album, Dancers In The Mansion, out August 12th via Long Bar Music.
While Eastham’s previous album, The Man I Once Was, was a portrait of a man in turmoil, his new album paints a much different picture. Dancers In The Mansion is a celebratory and dynamic collection of songs which elevate the Americana genre to new heights.With its poetic lyricism and innovative musical arrangements, his vision is expressed in shades of country-flavored classic rock, psychedelic country, and echoes of Nashville’s late ’60s/early ’70s “countrypolitan” era. “While the last album was me looking inward, this one is more me looking outwards. So, in a strange way, it probably gives a better a sense of who I am and what I find interesting or moving,” he says.
Today, Mother Church Pew is proud to present the premiere of “Sometimes, The Road”, a song from the forthcoming album; “This song was inspired by several different things. The core of the song was verse two which is the first verse I wrote. I grew up in the country next door to my grandparents, so I was very close with them. A few months before finishing my last album, my Gramma (and last remaining grandparent) passed away. That album, The Man I Once Was, was dedicated to her. Almost exactly one year later my girlfriend lost several family members; we were going to all these funerals, one after another, standing in the same place with the same people, putting another casket in the ground,” Eastham recalls. “That image really stuck with me.”
“Around the same time, we bought a house in East Nashville, and I finally started to really feel settled here,” he continues. “It was really that confluence of events that created the ideas and images I wanted to explore in ‘Sometimes, The Road.’”
Feast your ears on “Sometimes, The Road”, and get ready for what’s to come:
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Album Review: Ramblin Feels Good – Jeff Scroggins & Colorado
Jeff Scroggins & Colorado, from—you guessed it, Colorado—released their brand new album, Ramblin Feels Good, on July 22nd. While the string band craze taking over the The Centennial State has produced all manner of “grasses” (and I do mean all manner), bluegrass traditionalists will find all they’ve ever wanted and more in Ramblin Feels Good.On lyrically clever tracks like “Sometimes Dig For Taters”, Blake opines on the variety of life’s options: “Gotta go/Dig that hole/Sometimes wine/Sometimes ‘shine/Sometimes dig for taters”, delivered in a beautifully-executed minor key. The band’s vocalist, West Virgina native Greg Blake, has a yearning, lonesome tone to his twangy vocals; on album standout, “She’s Got A Single Thing In Mind”, he tells a tale of an unraveling relationship, as his languorous voice flows effortlessly, contrasted with the kind of furious finger-picking underneath that would leave any novice’s fingers in serious knots—a perfect way to illustrate the turmoil of untying the ties that bind.
The album is perfectly balanced between goosebump-inducing harmony on tender heartstring-tuggers like “Night Is Fallin In My Heart”, and ferocious barn-burners like title track “Ramblin Feels Good”. Before I even realized it, I had absorbed the contents of this album four times, and it only got better—one thing is certain, listenin’ feels good.
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Purchase Ramblin Feels Good: http://www.jeffscrogginsandcolorado.com/store.html#
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Interview: The Sawtooth Brothers
“We didn’t see anyone in the scene here doing exactly what we were doing; there were folk grass bands and jam grass bands and traditional bluegrass bands,” says Luke Birtzer of Twin Cities-based bluegrass outfit The Sawtooth Brothers. “We felt like we had something different to offer.”
Comprised of a tight-knit group of two sets of bluegrass award-winning siblings, Luke and Clint Birtzer and Ethan and Jesse Moravec, this band definitely has something different to offer. Bluegrass can be an intimidating genre of music for the uninitiated, but The Sawtooth Brothers have managed to make it accessible and relatable with their recently-released album, One More Flight. “We’ve definitely got pop influences in our music; we changed our name a few years back from Sawtooth Bluegrass to Sawtooth Brothers, we wanted people to come to the music with an open mind,” Luke explains. “People have their own connotations about bluegrass music, sometimes it’s negative, sometimes they think they know exactly what it will sound like. We think our music is broader than that. The outskirts of our music is bluegrass—we formed as a bluegrass band, but in the last couple of years, we decided to incorporate the ideas of all of the other kinds of music that like into the bluegrass instrumentation.”
The brothers also faced a challenge when their banjo player left the group; “Continuing on without a banjo player in the bluegrass world was interesting,” Luke says with a laugh. “People were kind of freaked out that we didn’t have a banjo player. Once we released the album, nobody who’s heard it says it needs a banjo.”
Currently, the brothers are playing regional shows and festivals, so if you’re enjoying the summer in the soon-to-be Great White North, be sure to catch The Sawtooth Brothers’ live show.
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Interview: Justin Osborne of SUSTO
As SUSTO frontman Justin Osborne and I sit and talk over coffee recently, he delivers some shocking news. “Tony Dong is no more,” he informs me, of the band’s beloved tour van, which was commemorated on a band t-shirt and was integral to SUSTO folklore.
“Last time you and I talked, we were on tour—we did a month with Futurebirds and a month with Heartless Bastards, and after that, the van was just shot. It wasn’t going to make it to the west coast, so we said our goodbyes and traded him in,” he continues. “We have a new van now, his name is Merle Haggard. A fan who used to be a tour photographer in the 70s gave us a picture of Merle, and we have it stapled to the ceiling inside the van. It’s a calming feeling really, knowing you’re going to be able to make it to your shows.”
Oh, don’t worry friends, Merle has already made onto a band t-shirt, in true SUSTO fashion.
A new van was definitely a must, because SUSTO has been tearing up the highways coast to coast for the last year. Osborne and company were fresh from their trip to this year’s Stagecoach Festival, the band’s first major festival appearance. “It was incredible. It was so cool to play a festival that size as an independent, unsigned band. We got so much exposure, and gave us an excuse to another tour on the way there and back. It’s so dusty out there, I had to wear a bandana over my nose and mouth everywhere we went, I felt like a real western outlaw,” he says with a laugh. “I learned that I definitely want to play festivals all summer long, every summer.”
Osborne just might get that chance—SUSTO has been on fire since the release of 2014’s self-titled full-length, playing shows all over the States playing a series of smaller festivals before their appearance at Stagecoach, and more on the books before they play the Austin City Limits Festival this fall. If you’ve ever experienced a live SUSTO performance, this should come as no surprise. For those who have not had the pleasure of doing so still have a chance—they’re on tour throughout the summer, which brings them to Nashville in September for Americana Fest, and somehow, the group has found time to write and record another album’s worth of new material. “We’re just trying to spread the SUSTO gospel.” says Osborne. “We want everybody to hear it.”
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TOUR DATES:
July 17—Atlanta, GA—Park Tavern
July 23—Savannah, GA— Service Brewing Company
July 28—Raleigh, NC—Kings
July 30—Macon, GA—Bragg Jam
August 5 & 6—Appleton, WI—Mile of Music Festival
August 10—Evanston, IL—Space
August 27—Athens, GA—Wildwood Revival
August 31—Nashville, TN—City Winery (Justin Osborne solo performance)
September 24 — Nashville, TN—AMA AmericanaFest
September 30—Harmony, NC—Carolina Jubilee
October 1—Roseland, VA—Devils Backbone Hoopla
October 7—Austin, TX—Austin City Limits