Weekend Wonders: Grog - Rue Snider - Henry Jamison - Red Rosamond - Robbie Miller
Grog - Guiding Light.Background from Grog - “The video for Guiding Light has an extra resonance due to the timing, circumstances and location of its creation. It was shot against blackened and ash covered landscapes in the aftermath of the Sand Fire, named after the Sand Canyon area where I live, east of LA’s Santa Clarita Valley. It consumed thousands of acres and came within two miles of my house, directly after the day I received news of Al’s passing. You could say my whole world had turned to ash.
Previously, I’d spent a week in London visiting Al in intensive care. My mind was filled with dark visions of the destructive nature of sepsis and the harsh, cruel way in which nature often devastates and yet continues to give birth to new life, new beginnings. When the Sand Fire was finally under control I had an overwhelming urge to shoot something; maybe it was about the effort to create something, to try to let something out, or just to feel the ash and dirt on my skin.
It wasn’t until I returned from my second trip to the UK for Al’s funeral that I shot the rest of the scenic footage and the areas I explored still resonated strongly with my emotional state. No matter how massive your loss, how heavy your heart, every challenge is an opportunity to rise to your light, to take the unique familiar goodness that you miss so much and recognise it in others, and in yourself. It’s still there in your heart.
Change is the very nature of all things, and though I detest what has happened, I will be changed by Al’s death, and I must guide that change towards positivity and growth.” Guiding Light - Release: 14 October 2016. Website here.
'Guiding Light' is the second song we have featured by Grog and she continues to impress, even with a more sombre and deeper piece like this. It's a reflective and serious track, which considers the sudden passing of her close friend and Die So Fluid drummer Al Fletcher.
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Rue Snider - Stories.Background - Folk-punk/Americana singer songwriter Rue Snider will release his second solo album, Broken Window, October 7, 2016. Three singles preceded the album; “Blackout,” “Blue Skies and Telephone Poles,” and “Stories.” “Stories,” a fan favourite, was a featured new release on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter homepage.
Broken Window was written in the midst of Rue’s transition from being a full time drinker to living as a sober person. The album moves from nihilism to hope over the course of its 36 hook-filled minutes. The songs’ instrumentation including jangly electric guitars, fiddle, and organ help to offset some of the darker lyrical content. Light overcoming dark is central to the album’s theme both in subject matter and tone.
"I try to be transparent in songs about a lot of the dark corners and trying moments in my life in an effort to encourage people to move past fear,” says Rue. “This record gets into a lot of the grittiness of alcoholism and becoming sober. The songs take a serious look at death and embracing the fact that life is finite as inspiration to live better."
Rue Snider has toured America extensively for three years in support of his debut full length album Leaving To Returning and single releases, The New New Colossus and Never Met A Girl I Didn’t Love. He has made appearances at SXSW and Folk Alliance International, and shared the stage with Tom Maxwell (Squirrel Nut Zippers), Tropic of Pisces, Superhuman Happiness, Benjamin Scheuer ("The Lion"), Blue Healer, Donna Missal, and Walter Salas-Humara (the Silos). He is currently on the road in support of Broken Window. Website here.
Rue Snider has distinct and engaging vocals as 'Stories' demonstrates. Not surprising the track is something of a story, which has an Americana feel running throughout. It's typical of the overall quality of the three singles released so far, and the forthcoming album. It's definitely worth checking all his material out.
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Henry Jamison - Dallas Love Field.Background - “Dallas Love Field” follows Henry’s previous two singles, the endearing “Real Peach” and its ethereal follow-up, “Through A Glass”, both of which just eclipsed a combined one million streams on Spotify in the past month alone… not bad for a brand-new songwriter!
The stand-out debut called The Rains EP, is coming out on October 14th through the UK label, Akira Records. The songs that comprise the The Rains show a central interest in exploring inner worlds, observing their treasures and holding none in contempt. He was also perhaps predisposed to songwriting, having come from a long line of poets and songwriters… his distant grandfather was the 14th century English poet John Gower (friend to Chaucer and Richard II) and his great-great-great-great grandfather was George Frederick Root, the most popular songwriter of the Civil War era. Facebook here.
Live dates:
10/01 - Portland, ME - Waking Windows Festival
10/04 - Burlington, VT - Signal Kitchen (w/ Vetiver)
11/01 - New York, NY - Rockwood Music Hall (Communion Presents)
We featured 'Real Peach' from the EP back in mid August and described 'The Rains' EP from which 'Dallas Love Field' also comes as follows. Comprising of five beautiful songs, thoughtful words sung with tenderness are accompanied by an understated and predominately acoustic soundtrack. Melodic through and through, and with delicate harmonies, the EP really is something quite special.
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Background and obviously very private message from Red - Dear Mike , I am driven by love. I am inspired by the emotionally authentic - the passionate, the bold, the determined - and the flawed. I grew up listening to stars like Aretha Franklin, Dinah Washington, Al Green & Tina Turner. Inspired by their work, every song I write I aim to be true.
'Damn' is about the power play between two people. The magnetism, the seduction… It’s about desire and heartbreak, about someone who has a hold on you.
We all have that one that got away and this is our soundtrack, my love letter to you. x Red.
I mean, how can I resist with a message like that! Actually 'Damn' is one very good song and well worth a feature in it's own right. A powerful pop song with Red's vocals and the potent musical soundtrack both challenging and complementing each other, it is a grand song through and through. Facebook here.
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Robbie Miller - RoadBackground - Off the back of a breakthrough 2016, Robbie Miller's musical evolution continues to grow with his upcoming second EP Closer To Home (out 28 October), to be supported by a tri-state launch tour announced today.
This past year has been quite the journey for Robbie Miller, with his singles ‘The Pain’ and 'Road' both picked up for rotation on triple j, national support tours alongside Josh Pyke and Dustin Tebbutt, a gig with Michael Franti and a stellar Bigsound showcase. Capping off an already impressive year, Miller is packing up to hit the pavement once more in support of his second EP, the weight of his growing accolades behind him and an endlessly promising future ahead.
Miller's follow-up to debut EP The Faster The Blood Slows is an atmospheric and emotionally immersive experience. Closer To Home isn't just headphone music at its finest – it bares all with close, poignant moments, dramatic highs and all that falls in between. So effortlessly does Miller intimately blend all these sonic shades does he bring his uniquely raw voice to the stage, a vocal strength of which has been described “to make your knees weak”.
Miller's sound has undeniably changed since the world first met him. Recorded in various locations from a Kyogle country cabin to a Melbourne studio with Oscar Dawson (Holy Holy, Alex Lahey, Ali Barter), Closer To Home is the dawning of a new era for Miller. His melding of alternative electronic sensibilities with his folk origins is flawless, further proving himself as a talent to watch. Closer To Home (EP) is released on Friday October 28, with a launch tour across three states beginning in Brisbane. Facebook here.
'Road' is the first of five really fine songs on the forthcoming 'Closer To Home' EP. Robbie has an engaging and melodic voice, that works so well with the smooth and sensitively crafted electronic background.
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