Our Favourite New Music from the Blue Ridge and Past
Each month, our editors curate a playlist of recent music, primarily specializing in unbiased artists from the South. In February we’re highlighting new tunes from Tyler Ramsey and Hurray for the Riff Raff.
Tyler Ramsey
“New Misplaced Ages”
Finest recognized for his stretch as lead guitarist in Band of Horses, Tyler Ramsey has been a fixture on the Blue Ridge music scene because the early 2000s. The western North Carolina tunesmith performed within the Asheville indie people band DrugMoney and has launched a handful of solo albums beginning with a 2004 self-titled effort. He’s bought one other file—produced by indie heavyweight producer Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty) underneath his personal identify coming this month, and the title observe is a weighty, pensive rock tune that needs for a turnaround in our present divisive instances. – J.F.
Holler Choir
“Coronary heart Formed Field”
Daring is the band that dares to cowl a track symbolic of a musical motion, however Asheville’s Holler Choir does simply that with their rendition of Nirvana’s “Coronary heart Formed Field.” Clint Roberts’ vocals echo Kurt Cobain’s haunted spirit, whereas hovering dobro and fiddle runs forged in opposition to stark percussion and droning clawhammer banjo seize the eerie, determined emotion of the track, permitting Holler Choir to place a masterful acoustic spin on a grunge rock basic. – D.S.
Actual Property
“Water Underground”
The chillest dudes in indie rock are again with one other set of mellow, sun-kissed tunes. “Water Underground,” a meditation on the random streams of inspiration that come through the songwriting course of, is the lead single from the brand new album, “Daniel,” which was recorded in Nashville with Grammy-winning producer Daniel Tashian. The file drops on February 23. – J.F.
Chatham County Line
“Magic”
Chatham County Line started mixing electrical devices and percussion into their bluegrassy sound lately, however “Magic,” from their new launch, “Hiyo,” is emblematic of simply how far the band is pushing their sonic borders as they enter their twenty fifth yr. Spacey synthesizers and slick manufacturing appear incongruous with a band lengthy recognized for singing the outdated timey manner round a single microphone, however the North Carolina trio make it really feel like a pure evolution. – D.S.
Hurray for the
Riff Raff
“Alibi”
After some synth-based enlargement on her 2022 album “Life on Earth,” Alynda Segarra—chief of Hurray for the Riff Raff—will get again to roots music on the brand new single, “Alibi.” The shuffling country-rock track options poignant reflections on grief, as Segarra was coping with the lack of her father whereas writing and recording her new album, “The Previous is Nonetheless Alive,” which comes out on February 23. The file includes a handful of nice particular visitors, together with Conor Oberst, Anjimile, and S.G. Goodman. – J.F.
Colby T. Helms
“Larger Floor”
Colby T. Helms, who hails from the small city of Boones Mill, Va., is a promising up and comer who blends the Appalachian grit of Tyler Childers with the relaxed string-band whimsy of John Hartford. He showcases his hearty, heartfelt vocal model on this standout from his debut album “Tales of Misfortune,” which got here out final month. The protagonist in “Larger Floor” is a hard-luck hustler who desires of giving a cherished one a greater life. – J.F.
Corb Lund
“Out on a Win”
Canadian-born nation troubadour Corb Lund channels the journeyman slugger’s pathos on “Out on a Win,” a musical story informed from the angle of an ageing MMA fighter. Lund sings of all of the instances his protagonist has been down and out, weary and worn from fights the world over. Lund’s fighter has taken extra whippings than wins, however the need to complete on high retains pulling him into the octagon, all the time chasing the validation of that closing victory. – D.S.
The Excessive Hawks
“Diamond Sky”
“Diamond Sky,” from the all-star collective The Excessive Hawks, is a breezy nation waltz, buoyed by the fiddle work of Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth) and the harmonies of Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon) and Adam Greuel (Horseshoes and Hand Grenades). With hints of each George Jones and The Band, the track hangs simply within the air, very like the band’s namesake, feathered by recollections of midnight skies and moonlit horizons. – D.S.
Cowl Photograph: Tyler Ramsey. Photograph by Parker J. Pfister/courtesy of Huge Trouble Publicity
