Showing posts with label Kendell Marvel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kendell Marvel. Show all posts
Aug 31, 2022
Jul 19, 2022
8 Parody Country Album Covers ft. Parker McCollum, Kendell Marvel, Warren Zeiders*
*many of these are clearly not what we'd consider country, but I can't type all that in the headline
Nov 17, 2020
Ain’t Gonna Be Today: Five Questions with Ward Davis
By Kevin Broughton
Kicking off with a blaze of harmonized electric guitars sounding like when the Allman’s Elizabeth Reed checked into the Eagles’ Hotel California, Ward Davis’s new album Black Cats and Crows doesn’t waste a second on formalities. Out Friday on Thirty Tigers, the record is a triumph on all fronts. A muscly country-rock record filled with murderous story songs, heartbreaking vulnerability, and that unmistakable voice—Davis’s weathered croon, barrel-aged then left out in the sun—are all brought to life through Davis’s and producer Jim “Moose” Brown’s care for their craft and disdain for sterility.
We’ve said here many times that as bad as 2020 has been on so many fronts, it’s been a great year for independent music. Davis’s Black Cats and Crows – upon its Friday release – will keep that hot streak alive. It’s an outstanding country-rock album that will leave fans wanting more from this songwriter coming into his own. We caught up with Mr. Davis for a lightning-round set of questions, mostly about the writing process and the music industry.
Kevin: It’s been a couple years since we last heard from you, on your 2018 EP Asunder. Are the 14 cuts on Black Cats and Crows songs you’ve developed since then, or do some of them stretch back beyond the EP?
Ward: Some of the songs on this record go back 15, 16 years. Some are just a few months old. I spent 15 years writing songs every day in Nashville hoping a George Strait or Tim McGraw would hear one and cut it, but it never happened. It’s a scary thing to think about, all the great songs that slipped through the cracks in the pavement on Music Row. The ones I cut on here that are aged, are the ones I was proudest of when I wrote them.
KB: There’s a line in the chorus of the title song, “God must have it in for me, why He only knows.” Is that coming from a historical point in your own story, a metaphor for alienation and sense of unfairness in people in general, neither or a little of both?
WD: I mean, bad luck is bad luck. Hard times are hard times. Bad stuff happens sometimes for no good reason. I’ve had a lot of friends that aren’t here anymore for reasons that I can’t even begin to comprehend. A lot of different scenarios do a lot of people in. I think a lot of times we ask God “Why?” and He doesn’t give us a straight answer. We were just pointing that out. It might feel like alienation, but it’s a pretty normal feeling, most people understand.
KB: You have a lengthy and impressive list of artists for whom you’ve written: Willie, Merle, Sammy Kershaw and Trace Adkins, just to name a few. How is your songwriting/thought process different when you’re writing them for yourself?
WD: I honestly don’t remember how I used to write songs. I was always chasing the golden geese of Nashville. I was putting songs together like Legos. I stopped that about six or seven years ago. Now I just write when I want. Or when I feel something. Or when I need some therapy. I’ll sit down and write a song in 20 minutes, but I won’t write another one for five or six months. I don’t think I have a process. I think I just write songs with people who like to write songs with me and that I like to write with.
KB: Over the last two to three years, there’s been a slew of artists churning out quality, thoughtful, earnest music that in a sane world would have a natural home on country radio. Stapleton, Jinx, Tennessee Jet, Jesse Daniel…this album would certainly fall into that category. Two-part question: Do you see country radio ever moving back from the pop/bro brink, and if not, what is the path going forward for indie artists without terrestrial radio airplay?
WD: I hope they don’t change it. All that shitty music on the radio drives people towards guys like me. The path is, “Stay real. Stay honest. Be human. Humans are listening.”
KB: For those not familiar with your history, how deep into the world of Nashville co-writes and publishing are you, and regardless of future releases of yours, will that remain part of your livelihood?
WD: I haven’t been a part of that world in over 6 years. I barely know anyone down there anymore.
----------
Black Cats and Crows is available everywhere you consume music this Friday.
Dec 17, 2019
Apr 23, 2019
Aug 22, 2018
Jul 16, 2018
New(ish) Video / Kendell Marvel / "Heartache Off My Back"
So it's not really new, but I didn't know about it...
From Kendell's excellent 2017 album Lowdown & Lonesome.
From Kendell's excellent 2017 album Lowdown & Lonesome.
Apr 6, 2018
Top 10 Biggest Country Singer/Songwriter Jerks
Some would imagine that relatively under-the-radar country singer/songwriters would not be as likely to be divas and d-bags as the ultra-hyped superstars. However, this is not to be.
Here are some of the most egregious offenders.
----------
10. Brandy Clark
Keeps "Draw 4" up sleeve when playing Uno
Tour rider requires Koolaid pickles, a Creed prayer candle, and 5 bottles of Olde English
9. Ed Hill
Thinks Farce the Music is hilarious
Actual crisis actor
8. Mac McAnally
Thinks Soulja Boy is better than 2Pac
Donates to charities promoting homelessness
7. Josh Grider
Does not tell someone if they have a booger
Hobby: Martin Shkreli fan fiction
6. Gretchen Peters
Has been kicked off multiple flights for fighting and drunkenness
Personally puts tiny scratch on each vinyl album ordered through her website
5. Will Hoge
Wears awkwardly short shorts to co-writing sessions
Default font on all emails? comic sans
4. Lori McKenna
Performs thorough and morally judgmental background check on co-writers
2 can a day Copenhagen habit
Wears big hats to church and sits in front of short people
3. Travis Meadows
Spreads nasty rumors about Whiskey Jack's hygiene
Argues with cashiers over expired coupons
Changes Alan Jackson online set lists and Wikipedia page to say AJ covers Lil Wayne, Future
2. Mandy Barnett
Writes "Nice" on page 69 of every library book she checks out
Coughs on buffets
Still wears a bluetooth earpiece
1. Kendell Marvel
Refused shot, gave 73 people flu this year
Secretly writes bro-country songs under pen name Chris DeStefano
Doesn't refill the Keurig
Claims world's largest laserdisc porn collection
Oct 16, 2017
Sep 5, 2017
Dec 27, 2016
Kendell Marvel Performs "Startin' With Me"
Here's a name you'll hear a lot more of in 2017. Kendell Marvel is a singer-songwriter who's written or co-written a lot of songs you've probably heard (Strait's "Twang," Jamey Johnson's "That Lonesome Song," Gary Allan's "Right Where I Need to Be"), including the one below - one of Jake Owen's best cuts. He's got an album coming in 2017, and his sound is right there in the sweet spot for fans of Stapleton, Ronnie Dunn, Cody Jinks, and Jamey Johnson.
Jul 15, 2016
Chris Stapleton Performs "Hard Living"
"Hard Living" is a new song Chris Stapleton has been performing live this year. It's written by our Twitter pal, Kendell Marvel. Hope it makes the next album!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
