With its Alan Jackson guitar twang and some dreamy pedal steel, Elijah Ocean’s new song “Thirty-Five” is straight out of a Nineties jukebox. The rambling singer-songwriter and Maine native, who landed in Nashville after detours in Brooklyn and L.A., released the song on Monday as the first taste of his upcoming album Born Blue.
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American Songwriter Interviews Dallas Moore
Dallas Moore has seen better days. Or, at least that’s what the road-worn, outlaw singer-songwriter says on his new single, “Better Days,” which dropped on March 18.
With an irresistible honky-tonk swagger—augmented by twangy guitars, a wistful harmonica and Moore’s gritty voice—the tune is one of the most authentically uplifting products of the COVID-19 pandemic thus far. But, as Moore explained, there was a year-long-journey leading to this moment.
“It’s crazy because I wrote ‘Better Days’ on March 18, 2020,” Moore told American Songwriter. “2020 would’ve been our 10th year in a row logging over 300 shows, but everything came to a screeching halt for us on March 18. That was the first day of the shutdown for us. We were supposed to play a show in Austin, Texas that night and it was the first time that we had to cancel.”
Not really knowing what to do next, Moore and his band packed up their stuff and headed back to their home-base in Universal City, Texas, right outside of San Antonio. Like countless working musicians across the country, the band was trying to understand the grim reality unfolding before them: they might lose months of income. Dumbfounded, they began discussing their options over a few rounds of drinks.
Taste of Country Praises New Dallas Moore Single
Dallas Moore celebrates the raw, exuberant spirit of live music in his new song, “Every Night I Burn Another Honky Tonk Down.” The track looks back on better times when we could all still get together, get rowdy and blow off some steam … but it also looks forward to better days ahead.
Moore wrote the song before the pandemic, and the hard-charging track captures the spirit of his live shows. The track features a chugging, straight-ahead drum part that drives guitars and fiddles, topped off by a rough-and-ready vocal performance from Moore. You can hear the lived experience of his years on the road in his voice when he assures, “Everybody knows that I get around / Every night I burn another honky tonk down.”
Rolling Stone Country Features Malin Pettersen in Music Picks of the Week
Malin Pettersen, “Wildhorse Dream”
Norwegian songwriter Malin Pettersen sings of following her craziest ambitions in “Wildhorse Dream,” the latest release from her upcoming album Wildhorse (out October 16th). “Don’t know how long it takes to get there, how long I want to stay or if I’m ever even going back,” Pettersen sings, supported by cascading backing vocals and a spacious arrangement that recalls indie-rock tinkerers the Walkmen.
Saving Country Music Praises New Track from David Quinn
Like the mother find from an excavation effort into the burned out ruins of a vintage recording studio, exhumed from a rusted shut 2-inch reel-to-reel tape canister containing some lost and forgotten country music classic, David Quinn’s Wanderin’ Fool sets you back some 70 years in time as soon as it’s cued up on your listening device of choice. Whether your question is where country music came from, or where it has gone, the answer is contained in this record…
Wide Open Country Debuts New Track From David Quinn
Illinois-native David Quinn was raised on classic country records and that long-held appreciation for the genre’s roots shines through on “Cryin’ Shame,” a traditional country two-stepper about a doomed relationship…