In “Airwaves,” the title track of his upcoming sophomore album (whose video is premiering exclusively below), Nashville rocker Andrew Leahey laments being part of “the last generation raised on FM” — and specifically on album-oriented rock radio. That tells you a lot about the rest of the album, a heartfelt homage to Leahey’s rock heroes such as Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, R.E.M. and others…
Archives for 2018
Rolling Stone Country Features New Music From Charles Wesley Godwin
The son of a West Virginia coal miner, Charles Wesley Godwin sings about the industry that’s both blessed and cursed his home state for centuries. His voice, with its tight, old-world vibrato, is perfect for the song, as are the light layers of violin and pedal steel…
Billboard Premieres New Music From Michael McArthur
What Michael McArthur calls “the hardest 12 months of my life” gave the Florida singer-songwriter his first full-length album, Ever Green, Ever Rain, whose track “Elaine” is premiering exclusively below…
Rolling Stone Country Features New Song From Mercy Bell
If it seems like Nashville’s well of talented singer-songwriters is never-ending, that’s probably because it is. And Mercy Bell, living in Music City by way of Boston and New York City, is another distinct voice with a potent, progressive take on emotive, modern folk. It’s a perspective clear on her new song “Home,” where Bell confesses to the coping mechanisms that have let her avoid life’s harshest moments, and a path to redemption that’s better late than never.
Uproxx Premieres New Elijah Ocean Video
Elijah Ocean makes warm, homespun Americana that spans the country’s expanse, from his origins in the east coast harbors of New York and Maine, and moving all the way through his more recent encampment on the west coast, out in Los Angeles. Following up his last album, 2017’s self-titled release Elijah Ocean, he recently shared the one-off track, “Down This Road,” a song that is an overt homage to the styling of Tom Petty. Today, we’re premiering the video for the song, which kicks off a mini west coast tour for Ocean.
Check out his story of the song, in his own words, along with those tour dates, below, and watch the clip above.
Wide Open Country Premiere’s New Single From Elijah Ocean
L.A.-based singer songwriter Elijah Ocean knows a thing or two about finding inspiration on the road. Raised in rural Maine, he landed on the West Coast a few years ago and he’s spent the years since traveling the freeways and rural byways of America. It’s that sense of restlessness and the realization of the cyclical nature of life at the heart of his latest single “Down This Road.”
The first single from his upcoming fifth album, “Down This Road” is a song nearly four years in the making. Ocean first started writing the song when he moved to L.A. in 2014. He then teamed up with his friend and keyboardist Zach Jones to co-write the track. After putting it aside for a few more months, Ocean finished writing the song in Las Vegas on a particularly difficult day.
“I ended up finishing the chorus and third verse in a hotel room in Vegas last fall. I was in town doing some casino gigs and I had been spending my days writing and finishing up the (Tom) Petty bio by the pool,” Ocean tells Wide Open Country. “It happened to be the same weekend Petty died and there was that horrible shooting. It felt like the sky was falling. Anyway, I decided to take it into the studio with my band and we tracked it live to tape, overdubbing the doubled 12-string acoustics, and a few other things.”
Tom Petty ended up being an obvious source of inspiration in the studio, along with Laurel Canyon legends like The Byrds.
Ocean says the song is inspired by our habitual need to repeat our own patterns in life and how that impacts our relationships.