Exclusive Single Premiere / The High Divers/ "Stick Around"

The High Divers. Photo by Joelle Rosen.

Here’s the new single from Americana foursome The High Divers, “Stick Around.” It’s a bouncing, mid-tempo plea to friends struggling with dependency or mental health issues. While that sounds like it could tend pretty dark, “Stick Around” rides on hope. Lead vocalist Luke Mitchell’s voice is comforting and soulful, and the production is simple and crisp, focusing on the central theme of love and support. Friendship is always a timely message. RIYL: Great Peacock, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, American Aquarium.

From Luke Mitchell:

“This song is about losing friends of mine to suicide and overdose, and just wishing they were still here. I think the lyrics reflect on some of the things I wish I could have told them, and is my way of reaching out to them for some closure. I think times are really hard right now for everyone, and our society has made it easy to feel ashamed of having problems with your mental health. Getting help is hard, and our healthcare system is failing people miserably. Having been through mental illnesses within my family, I know that things can change drastically if you're not checking up on your loved ones, and getting them help is like running uphill. The stigma and red tape surrounding these issues is ridiculous and outdated and has to change. 

I wrote this song as a plea to anyone feeling really terrible to reach out, and to those around them to just listen. I think it's natural for people to look back and think "What if I would have called them?", and that question haunts me. 

When I was writing this, I was focusing in on a childhood friend that I lost to a heroin overdose, as well as another good friend of the band, who had helped us get going in the very beginning. I thought of them sitting in the room with me, and what I would tell them If I could see them one more time. It was hard to go to that place, but I was able to tell them how much I love them and miss seeing them around. They were great people that made a big impact on me and helped me through my own struggles.”

More information about the band and their upcoming EP Ride With You, below the song player.

The High Divers // Ride With You (June 7)

The High Divers have been covered by Paste, Performer Magazine, KDHX, practically every outlet in their hometown of Charleston and are consistently named one of the best bands in South Carolina. Now, with their new Sadler Vaden-produced EP, Ride With You — an emotion-clad and wholly triumphant project — this four-piece are poised to break out on a national scale. 

“Sadler wanted us to really focus on songs that were entwined with our lives and real experiences, which got us writing from a much deeper level. There are songs about losing friends to suicide, trying to live with gratitude while struggling with PTSD, abusive relationships, busting out of your close-minded hometown, and finding peace falling in love with yourself and someone new. We would play Sadler a bunch of songs, and then we’d play one that was really close to our chest, and he’d say “Why didn’t you play me that one first, that’s the song!” We were hiding from songs that felt too vulnerable and raw, while that’s exactly what he was looking for.” 

“I’m still kickin’!” frontman Luke Mitchell howls with guttural intensity on the closing track. “Still Kickin’” is the snow-capped peak of this new batch of music and the statement piece of the band members’ lives in this moment. “It happened so fast / Do you understand how lucky you are to be sitting here?” he provokes the listener to engage with their state of being, as well. The air slips out of his lungs in hurricane gusts, but it’s his conviction that is especially moving.

The raw, unsettling realization that life could slip from your grasp any minute is the bedrock of the EP, which was recorded at East Nashville’s Jeremy Ferguson-owned Battle Tapes Studio. The band, consisting of the married Luke (vocals, guitar) and Mary Alice Mitchell (keyboards, vocals), Julius DeAngelis (drums) and Kevin Early (bass, vocals), learned that hard lesson nearly two years ago when their touring van was T-boned by a semi-trailer truck. They rose out of the wreckage with broken bones, deep scars, and a new perspective on human existence.

Swelling with melancholy, the title cut “Ride with You” mourns that empty feeling born out of small-town life and needing something more reinvigorating, while “Stick Around” is an urgent call-to-action in the wake of numerous friends falling prey to suicide. “If you’re hurting, your house is haunted / You just need a friend around,” Mitchell beckons, his hand extending in an enveloping token of compassion.

Out of Hilton Head Island, the band members played in various entities, including multiple cover and original bands in their youth, but wouldn’t link up as a proper collective until 2014. With Mary Alice calling upon her classical piano training, she would seamlessly add a whole new element that would perfectly compliment Luke’s songwriting sensibilities, where her gifts have never been more suited. Her voice, a force of its own, is a perfect counter-balance to Luke’s woody timbre.  

Mary Alice and Luke tied the knot two years ago, and that romantic entanglement allows the band to display even more heart and tremendous amounts of sacrifice. “Being married and out on the road can be challenging, but we make a good team and have a good support system in place. We are each other’s creative counterpoint, and we’re constantly working. We have to remind ourselves to try and have a day off every now and then, to do normal ‘married couple’ things.”

Ride With You was born out of struggle, but across these six tracks, there emerges warmth, love, understanding, and freedom. “Having to do the thing you’re most afraid of for your job is hard. We're a little more nervous than we used to be driving from city to city. It’s really put touring into perspective for us. We always took it seriously, but now, it’s much more so. We always hold it in higher regard,” says Luke. Mary Alice chimes in, “We try to give it our all onstage because it’s like...what if I don’t get to do this tomorrow?” 

The High Divers have never sounded better. Even as they are forever haunted by that fateful day, their spirits are intertwined together in a powerful new way. This new EP then underscores their courage, determination, grit, and ability to forge an even brighter future against all odds. Working with Vaden as a producer helped them find a sound that they are excited to share as they continue to tour the country.

“Working with Sadler was one of the highlights of our creative lives, and his ability to cut through the bullshit and get at the heart of the song was so refreshing. This is some of the best work we’ve done as a band, and Sadler was there in the trenches with us the entire time.”

Exclusive Single Premiere: Buffalo Gospel "High Time to Hang Fire"

Today we've got the exclusive introduction to the new single by a Farce favorite, Buffalo Gospel. From their upcoming release, On the First Bell, it's a plaintive ballad called "High Time to Hang Fire" that laments the loss of a good friend. Steel guitar sets the mood and Ryan Necci's soulful vocals tell the tale. Falling somewhere between tear in your beer country and classic R&B, the song brings wrenching emotion to the smoky barroom.  It's an impressive welcome back for Buffalo Gospel.

From the band:

We’ve experienced a lot of loss over the last decade or so. Relatives, friends, wives and bandmates. By no means are we the only ones who have had to struggle with loss, but in the proud tradition of country and western music, we write about the truth — about our truths. After all, that’s what ‘gospel’ means. We wrote these songs in the hopes that they could provide some relief and some comfort to others. There is strength in numbers and knowing you’re not alone when things get dark can be incredibly powerful.

Loss often comes without warning and that’s what makes it so crushing. ‘High Time to Hang Fire’ is a belated goodbye letter to a close friend. We always think we'll have more time to tell our loved ones the things we want to — to tell them what they’d meant to us. We see their fight with mortality and we want so desperately to let them know that there is no shame in resting easy.  One last goodbye, a little too late.

More information about Buffalo Gospel's forthcoming album, On the First Bell, below the song player. It's out May 4th.

Buffalo Gospel to Release Long Awaited Second Full-Length Album

Milwaukee, WI - Critically acclaimed, Milwaukee-based, Country/Americana group, Buffalo Gospel, have announced the release date of their long-awaited second full-length album entitled On the First Bell on May 4, 2018.

On the First Bell was recorded under the mastery of Grammy award-winning engineer, Brian Joseph, who credits include Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, and the Indigo Girls, at The Hive outside Eau Claire, Wisconsin 

On the process of creating On the First Bell, Lead Vocalist and Guitarist Ryan Necci said

“It's the first time we've left the city to make a record and it really had a profound, positive effect on the work. No distractions, no egos. We were able to focus solely on serving the songs and we're incredibly happy and proud of the results.”

On the First Bell is the follow up to Buffalo Gospel’s 2013 We Can Be Horses, which was described as “minimalist and masterful,” “musically arresting,” and “Milwaukee’s Best Kept Secret.” The band have scheduled an album release celebration show to showcase their new material, as well as old favorites, at Anodyne Coffee Roasting Company in Milwaukee with Joseph Huber in support.

Buffalo Gospel delivers hopped up trucker country and breathtakingly honest ballads through a virtual “who’s-who” of crack Midwestern musicians including, (Ryan Necci, Lead Vocals/Guitar) Kevin Rowe (Bass), Nick Lang (Percussion), Michael Rossetto (Multi-Instrumentalist), and Andrew Koenig (Guitar). Buffalo Gospel begins their tour in support of On the First Bell April 13, 2018, at the Midwest Music Fest in LaCrosse, WI. 

Exclusive Single Premiere: Whiskey in the Pines "Sixteen"

Today we offer you the exclusive single premiere from Florida alt-country outfit Whiskey in the Pines. "Sixteen" is a bass line driven slice of anthemic Americana in the vein of American Aquarium and Ryan Adams. It may take you back to the 90s heyday of alt-country music, when Son Volt was being played on MTV, The Jayhawks were on fire, and Wilco wasn't dad rock. It did me.

There's a bit more bio information and the band's thoughts on "Sixteen" below the player.

Their new EP, Sunshine From the Blue Cactus is available February 2, 2018 from Amazon, iTunes, etc.

What is "Sixteen" about? 

This is one of those songs that just fell out of the sky. To break it down simplistically the song was my way of expressing that in the end, it all works out. There is no doubt that the song is the most personal on the record and it encapsulates this strange emotion I was feeling at the time. My mom had passed, my son had just been born, and in the middle of it all was this feeling of retrospect of what in the hell just happened. We move so fast in life we don’t process what we feel. This was me simply looking back saying to myself “If you would have told me that in one year from now this is where you will be, sitting on this bed, writing this song, I would have called you a bold face liar.” I don’t know if it’s because I am more aware these days or just more grateful but I am still astonished at how unpredictable life can be and how good it really all is.

Who/what were some influences when it came to writing "Sixteen?" 

Oh, it was so long ago it’s tough for me to remember what I may have been listening to at the time. But I remember distinctively watching an interview with Ryan Adams and he was discussing how he knew what kind of song he would be writing based on where he placed his capo. I never really purposely thought of it like that, even though I love using a capo. On “Sixteen” the capo on the guitar is on the 4th fret which brings a bit of a brighter feeling to it. I remember when I was coming up with the melody in my head that I wanted it to be a bit brighter and the best way to do that was to bring the capo to a higher register. So to answer the question I suppose I would tip my hat to Mr. Adams for at least making me realize how powerful the capo can be when tapping into the emotional feel of a song.

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Photo by Pat McDonnel

WHISKEY IN THE PINES - SUNSHINE FROM THE BLUE CACTUS

While Whiskey in the Pines’ hails from Florida, synonymous with endless sunshine

and miles of beaches, the ocean is still a long way from the band’s hometown

Tallahassee. “It’s about a two-hour drive,” says David Lareau, Whiskey in the Pines’

plainspoken singer and principal songwriter. The band’s unmistakably Southern

moniker—a perfect fit for its brand of heartfelt, no-frills Americana—was inspired by

their frequent excursions down US-319 south to the languid shores of the Gulf.

“You’re traveling miles of road surrounded by nothing but pine trees,” he says. “And

a good friend of mine always called me ‘Whiskey.’ I drove out to the beach so often

that when it came time to name the band, it was a pretty straightforward choice.”

For Lareau, Whiskey In The Pines has been at once a new beginning and a much-

needed salve to heal the wounds of a tumultuous year. As the band prepares to

release its new EP, Sunshine From The Blue Cactus (named for drummer Erik

Wutz's admired waitress, Sunshine, who worked the lunch shift at the band’s favorite

haunt), Lareau has been reflecting back on the pothole-filled road that led him to this

point.

 

“When I was writing the songs for Sunshine, My mom had recently passed away,

and I’d also just had my first kid,” Lareau says. “There were all sorts of conflicting

emotions pouring out through the songs. It’s been a journey, for sure.”

 

Lareau’s Florida roots provide the EP’s alt-country songs with a gentle warmth and

sense of connectedness. This is heartland rock & roll, shot through with an ambling,

country-tinged flourishes. There are songs that would perfectly score a backyard

day-drinking session and others that work as peaceful codas to soundtrack the

after-party cleanup. Which makes perfect sense after everything Lareau has

experienced in recent years. On the autobiographical “Sixteen” and shifty love paean

“Do You Believe in Hell,” Lareau ruefully examines his life’s circumstances,

pondering how past decisions have influenced his present state. Elsewhere on the

EP, “Roses” chugs forward with a driving melody reminiscent of Jason Isbell or Ryan

Adams’ earlier work in Whiskeytown. “It’s times like these when you’re driving

through this town / And you’re playing Tom Petty with the windows down,” Lareau

sings on the chorus, delivering his lines with the authenticity of someone, who—like

the rock legend he name-checks—knows small-town Southern life firsthand.  

 

Inspiration comes to Lareau in many forms. An avid distance runner, he often works

up melodic ideas as he pounds the pavement, reveling in the solitary miles. And, of

course, life in Tallahassee is inseparable from college football and the Florida State

Seminoles—it was at a tailgate where Lareau came up with the framework for what

would become the somber “Drunk with My Friends.” Sometimes, though, the tunes

come together until the pressure is on to record, which was the case with “Roses.”

“My first stab at writing that song came out really dark, which wasn’t a great fit for the

upbeat melody,” Lareau says. “I was stuck on it for a while but ended up pulling out

some new lyrics the night before we cut it. Everyone loved the spontaneity, so we

went with it.”

 

Lareau writes quickly and trusts his instincts. He may edit things later upon further

reflection or after hearing input from his bandmates, but he knows he’s at his best

when he strikes while the iron is hot. “For ‘Sixteen,’ I literally picked up the guitar with

the melody in my head laid down with my wife and son beside me, and wrote the

lyrics on my phone in ten minutes,” he says. “I luckily found the right words that

rhyme at 3:30 in the morning.”

 

Though Lareau anchors the band as frontman and songwriter, Whiskey In the Pines

is a collaborative affair and his bandmates have the chops to make these tunes

really hum. Bassist Aaron Halford and guitarist Kelly Chavers are longtime pals. Noel

Hartough produced the band’s new EP while Erik Wutz handled drums on the

recordings, and ace session musician Barrett Williams soars on pedal steel. The

band dynamic and this new set of songs have energized Lareau as he prepares to hit

the road in support of Sunshine From The Blue Cactus. 

 

“We’re really proud of this one,” he says. “We want people to remember these

songs, to sing them in the shower, or when they’re taking their kids to school—to

have them become a part of their life.”