Live Video Premiere / Graham Stone / "Little White Lines"

Photo by Ross Wright

Today we've got an exclusive premiere of a live video from Virginia-based singer-songwriter Graham Stone, who is set to release his sophomore LP Bad News on April 12th. 

"Little White Lines," a song too new to have made the cut for Bad News, is a rootsy, upbeat folk song about the life of a troubadour--living life on the road, with no pass-time beyond staring at the "little white lines" in between the lanes. The live video shows Stone performing solo acoustic at beloved Richmond, Va. club The Camel, allowing the lyrics to shine through in a stripped-down setting. 

Graham has an expressive, open-throated delivery that brings the emotion and the story to life. The song itself has a quickly delivered, almost talk-singing verse that brings to mind other road tunes like Cash's "I've Been Everywhere." It's a memorable tune and a great introduction to anyone who hasn't heard Stone's music before.  RIYL: Tyler Childers, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, Brent Cobb, Chuck Ragan, John Moreland, John Prine

From Stone: "This is a highway song for sure, a tune from the road. I wrote this one while driving the Pennsylvania Turnpike up to Michigan through a blizzard to see my daughter. This song was written during and about a specific trip, but it's also somehow kind of about all the other trips just like that one that I had done before. Usually alone but sometimes with friends or one of my brothers. Staying in hotels, listening to Ray Charles, drinking bourbon in dive bars, smoking cigarettes to stay awake. I just remember feeling like it would never end. Like I'd always be doing it this way even though I didn't really want to. The chorus of the song talks about the highway just sort of running on forever but by the very end I'm swearing it all off again. No more hotels, motels and little white lines."

You'll find a bio and more information below the player.

Graham Stone - Bad News

You can’t turn on the television or flick through your social feeds without being bombarded with bad news. “It’s like the whole world’s got the blues,” Americana singer-songwriter Graham Stone feels that lyric in his bones, it’s an apt summation of his new album, Bad News (out April 12th). Still, somehow he manages to provide hope and spread compassion through warm guitar chords and a voice as smooth as your favorite whiskey, but that doesn’t mean he won't raise a little hell along the way. 

Drawing heartfelt lines through the American South, Stone is a razor-sharp firebrand. He plants his feet at the center of the raging storm and accepts the elements in order to engage the humanity and tragedy buried beneath. That common thread echoes in every corner of the record, from the cautionary tale of “Oh Hell,” to the quaking bristle of “Celebrate.”

Stone doesn’t carry a chip on his shoulder, but there is an unmistakable air of honesty and determination in his lyrics. “Nobody knows what this life holds / But I guess maybe it’s better that way,” he sings on the urgent, enveloping “Fighting For,” a song with a driving force that sees Graham singing to his infant son. He doesn’t take his responsibility of parenthood lightly and his teachings of kindness and strength soak each moment to the core.  

His ripened wisdom is owed in large part to his humble beginnings. Born in Virginia in 1987, his fondest childhood memories are from the years his family spent living in Newport, NC, before eventually moving back home and settling down in Sudley, Virginia, on the banks of the Bull Run tributary near Manassas in Prince William County. He comes from a large family -- he’s one of seven children -- and a culture of loving music. His father often plucked out blues tunes on guitar or bluegrass numbers on the banjo and equipped Graham with an appreciation for instrumentation. “I also think I may have accidentally crushed his banjo by sitting on it as a kid,” he reminisces with a smirk. “I still kind of feel bad about that.”

By the time he entered his teens, Graham had developed an affinity for playing on his grandmother’s guitar. “I don’t know if she ever even really played it,” he corrects, noting his grandfather bought it "for her" really so he could try and do some finger-picking of his own. “But I think because my dad was the most serious guitar player in the family, somehow it ended up at our house.”

Through the years, Graham has played in various musical collectives. After a few unnamed punk bands in high school, he played in a collective in Washington, DC with friends called The Storytellers and then in a family band called Karla and the Brotherhood with his sister and a couple brothers. After moving to Richmond in 2014, Graham began to play out at local watering holes alongside his wife and fellow music-maker Aubrey (who predominantly plays the mandolin) as a duo called The Whiskey Wells.

But it wasn't until 2017, with his 30th birthday looming that Graham gathered up a collection of original songs for his debut solo record, Until the Day. “It was really just a bucket list thing I wanted to do at the time,” he says of the album, which arrived to astounding regional success and launched him headlong into the local music community just six months before the birth of his son. Afterwards, his life came into clearer focus and setting one foot in front of the other, he embarked more seriously on a path towards making music full time.

Now, armed with a clear vision and a brand new record in Bad News, Stone seeks to encourage the world-weary and reaches new levels of rumbling, gritty and plain-as-day Americana glory along the way. “This is also the first album I’ve recorded with what felt more like a cohesive band,” he says. Following a gig at FloydFest last summer, the troupe of musicians headed into the studio, already wearing the songs on their sleeves. "That gives the record a really cool cohesion, moving us closer towards what I imagine a totally live studio album might feel like,” he explains of the process, which began with Graham laying down guitar and vocals before bringing in the rest of the band for a live session together to capture the backbone instrumentation before adding the final sonic layers.

Bad News, which feels as earthy as it does polished, gives the listener plenty of room to breathe and allows each song to flourish on its own. Between crashing waves of rock & roll, the blues, folk storytelling and the telltale twang of the dobro--this record captures the best of everything Stone has to offer. He puts his all into his craft and unleashes onto the world an astute and necessary reflection of how we, as human beings, might engage with this world in a more honest and hopeful way. If we listen closely enough, we might come to understand more about who we are and perhaps in so doing, find out more of who we are meant to become together.

Live Video Premiere / Hawks and Doves (Kasey Anderson) / "From a White Hotel"

Kasey Anderson has had quite the journey. From burgeoning singer/songwriter (and an early Farce "contributor") to Twitter fame and being seemingly on the cusp of a national break-through …and then came the news of wire fraud, a felony conviction, and prison. After serving his time, he quietly slipped back into society with newfound sobriety and heavy remorse …and now Anderson makes his musical return. His new bank Hawks and Doves releases their album From a White Hotel on July 27th, and whether you've come around on him personally or not, you've got to admit that it's good to hear that voice again. Here's the new live video of the album's title track. Hope you enjoy.

From Kasey:

This is a live version of the title track from the Hawks and Doves album of same name, out July 27 on Jullian Records. The song was recorded live at the Living Room in NYC, February of 2018. The song is entirely autobiographical and references my addiction, bipolar disorder, time in prison, and recovery. It also contains these lines, which tie in pretty nicely to the attached screen-grabbed tweet.

“Well, I ain’t no kind of outlaw and I never claimed to be / so you can take that cowboy shit and you can send it out to sea / on a great big wooden ship with all your love’s debris / and set it on fire”

Pre-order From a White Hotel LP or CD: http://kaseyandersonmusic.com/store

Pre-order From a White Hotel Digital: http://smarturl.it/hawksandoves 

Exclusive Video Premiere / The Underhill Family Orchestra / "When the Trumpet Sounds"

Today, we've got a video premiere from self-described "southern prog pop" group, The Underhill Family Orchestra. I'm glad I kept an open mind when I read the words "folk-rocking collective" in the introductory email. Normally, I'd have moved on, having been bored to tears by most "collectives" in the past, but I clicked play, and was immediately drawn in. "When the Trumpet Sounds" is rollicking folk rock with gospel undertones and a danceable tempo. This is an Americana band that actually sounds like they're having a great time, and it's infectious. Fun is not a bad word. Vocalist Steven Laney has some David Lee Roth swagger and even sounds like him a little, and that's awesome.  Give this video a look - it's hilarious - then give the album a listen - you won't regret it. Recommended if you like: Shovels & Rope, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, The Band, JD McPherson, etc.

Below the video, you can also stream the full album Tell Me That You Love Me.

Steven Laney about the video:

"This video is in part inspired by old straight to VHS movies and a lot of British television ('AbFab,' 'Red Dwarf') with the pacing of old casting reels. We have a good deal of sentimentality for that 90s cassette look from watching 'McGee and Me,' 'Captain Power,' 'Monty Python,' and the like. As we were creating the 'characters' we were playing, they became caricatures of ourselves and we just rolled with it. Ben is kind of a health nut and workout junkie, Roy is super organized, and I'm kind of a mixed bag that loves dogs of all kinds (hot and otherwise). The energy during the shoot was so fun because we knew what we were doing was silly and with that came a stream of creativity from every member voicing great content ideas."

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Buy the album at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tell-Me-That-You-Love/dp/B07BJD1R2L

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tell-me-that-you-love-me/1360863306

Lyric Video Premiere: Becky Warren "She's Always There"

Becky Warren's album War Surplus was named on a couple of ballots for Farce the Music's Top Albums of 2016 list, and today we've got an exclusive premiere of her lyric video for the confessional drinkin' song, "She's Always There." Check out the biography and links of interest below the video for more information on this exciting singer/songwriter. Warren is recommended to fans of Lucinda Williams, Mary Gauthier, Cody Jinks, etc.

Website: http://www.beckywarren.com 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thisisbeckyw 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thisisbeckyw 

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thisisbeckyw

With her debut solo album, War Surplus, Nashville singer/songwriter Becky Warren relays the affecting, gritty and candid tale of the relationship between an Iraq-bound soldier named Scott and his girlfriend, June. As the story unfolds, the two meet, fall in love, get married and then struggle to hold it all together when he returns from his deployment a changed man living with the echoes of PTSD. From the record’s award-winning lead track “Call Me Sometime” straight through ‘til the last note, Warren’s potency as a songwriter is on full display, as she weaves a compelling musical narrative rooted in her own life experiences and the rich sounds of Americana and rock & roll, all the while channeling the bold yet unaffected spirit of Neil Young, the compassion and grit of Steve Earle, and the fiery, bourbon-soaked vocals of Lucinda Williams.

 Supporting Warren on War Surplus is an impressive cast of Nashville musicians including guitarist and pedal-steel player Paul Niehaus (Calexico, Iron & Wine, Justin Townes Earle, Bobby Bare Jr.), drummer Dillon Napier (Margo Price), and Adam Wakefield (2nd place, The Voice), who sings backing vocals on “Call Me Sometime” and plays organ and accordion throughout the record. This talented pickup band joined Warren this past March for six days of sessions at analog-obsessed Nashville studio Welcome to 1979, with Warren’s friend and bassist Jeremy Middleton—a military veteran himself—handling production duties. “The fact that Jeremy had, in his own life, been through some of the same experiences on the record made him a perfect fit,” Warren says. “I had over 30 songs I could have used—he really helped me sift through everything and choose the ones that best told the story. And he did a lot of arranging.”

Beyond the top-notch musicians, brilliantly crafted songs and tasteful production, part of the reason War Surplus hits with such impact is the very personal, almost autobiographical nature of Warren’s material. Just like the June character she created, Warren married a soldier back in 2005. A week later, he was deployed to Iraq and eventually returned home with PTSD. After four tumultuous years of trying to work through the fall out, they eventually, amicably, split. So while Scott and June are characters, and their story is a fictional account, Warren has the advantage of knowing what it’s really like—of being able to draw from a deep well of personal experience, and it lends the record a powerful authenticity and empathy. And to take the writing beyond the scope of her own experiences, Warren also drew from several veteran-penned memoirs, in particular My War: Killing Time in Iraq by Colby Buzzell, a book that inspired War Surplus standout “Stay Calm, Get Low,” and ultimately led to Buzzell—a freelancer for New York Times and Esquire—writing the album’s liner notes.

A record concerned with real human stories, War Surplus is also refreshingly devoid of political posturing, and deeply respects the experiences of veterans and their friends and family. “The album deals with some heavy themes,” Warren says, “but it was also important to me that it be catchy and fun to listen to. I know it’s a really polarizing song, but  I’ve always loved Springsteen’s ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ It’s a serious song about Vietnam vets, but people still have a good time shouting along to it in stadiums.”

Long before Warren struck out on her own as a solo artist, all the way back in 2003, she played in Boston alt-country outfit The Great Unknowns, who signed to Amy Ray’s Daemon Records, toured with the Indigo Girls, and were praised by everyone from Maxim to No Depression. The band released the first of its two albums, Presenting The Great Unknowns, in 2004. But it wasn’t long before Warren’s struggles with her husband’s PTSD led her to take an extended break from music. “The whole time I wasn’t writing, it was very painful for me,” she says. “I couldn’t even really listen to music because it made me feel terrible. I was thinking about everything I was missing.”

Within a month of her divorce, though, she was writing again, and would eventually record a second Great Unknowns album, 2012’s Homefront. Though her old bandmates were now scattered across the country and unable to tour, Warren kept cranking out powerful songs, including “Call Me Sometime,” which won her the 2014 Merlefest Songwriting Competition and the 2015 Kerrville New Folk competition. It’s an impressive feat when you consider the past winners of these contests—career artists like Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett and Gillian Welch.

A 12-song concept record, War Surplus is Warren’s most fully realized work to date. The project began in earnest in 2012 when she attended a Johnny Mercer Foundation writing program where she met several artists who were involved with musical theater. “I was really interested in their process,” Warren says. “The way they focus on characters, and what motivates them.”

Warren wrote War Surplus’ alcoholic anthem “She’s Always There” during the Mercer program. From there, Scott was born, and with Warren’s more ambitious character-driven perspective, he took on a life of his own. “I could interact with Scott,” she says. “Talk to him, think about him. It was therapeutic. Writing a song, you’ve gotta get your thoughts to a razor’s edge because you don’t have that much time.”

With this new solo debut on the way, Warren is busy gearing up for a run of full-band and solo dates in support of the release. She hopes the record will resonate with a wide range of fans while raising awareness about veterans and PTSD. “There are so many people out there who have gone through similar experiences,” Warren says, “and I want to do everything I can to make them feel like they’re not invisible. And maybe at the same time, the record will lead some people to learn more about veterans' issues, and take some positive action.”