“Rehearsing a new record with my band before touring is a favorite part of it all for me. The records are their own creations and we use ’em kind of like blueprints when we’re arranging the new songs and placing them in the set for our live show. I try to pick guitar for an hour before rehearsal, have a three hour rehearsal, handle a few hours worth of record business duties and then pick again from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. working on new twin-guitar sections, additional instrumental movements within songs or fixing whatever rough spots rehearsal revealed that day. We rehearse in a shed out in White’s Creek a few days a week for a few weeks, take the new material for a test drive at a local joint and hit the road. Working with Kindercore Vinyl has been a big inspiration in making records spontaneously as their own creative statements, approaching them as an experimental process and allowing the process to alter the songs. Including Tennessee Alabama Fireworks we’ve released 2 full-length LPs and 3 vinyl singles in the last 2 years.” – Ray
Where the Music Meets Reviews Andrew Leahey’s “Airwaves”
At a first impression, Andrew Leahey plays and sings his indie-pop/rock like Ryan Adams, evoking nostalgia and sonorities from the (already) old 80’s. Richmond,Virginia, saw this musician growing watching VHS cassettes with his brother, who’ve recorded long hours of MTV channel with video clips and even commercials. Leahey fell in love for “heroes” like Springsteen, who inspired him to become a singer and songwriter.
Rolling Stone Names Grand Canyon’s “Standing in the Shadows” One of Ten Country Songs to Hear Now
Excerpt from article:
Had Stevie Nicks ditched Fleetwood Mac and joined Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers circa Damn the Torpedoes, this heartland-rock anthem might’ve found a home on Side A, sandwiched between “Even the Losers” and “Shadow of a Doubt.” A flashback to the glory days of Seventies pop-rock, “Standing in the Shadows” lights up with coed harmonies, electric-guitar jangle and California cool.
Boo Ray Gives Background to “Gone Back Down to Georgia” with Red Line Roots
“I’ve been going to and leaving Georgia since I was a teenager. There’s an indigenous and regional sound of players and songwriters in Georgia and that music just got all the way to me; hit me right in the middle. I went down to Georgia to get off the damned mountain when I was a teenager; went out to California to get out of the south; got homesick for sweet tea and grits and now I’m in Nashville… So yeah, maybe this song’s kind of in the spirit of that particular Georgia singer-songwriter writing device of being the most vulnerable, wounded part of yourself, offering it up in sacrifice and in celebration for anyone to identify with” – Boo Ray
Andrew Leahey’s Live Performance of “Make It Last” Premieres on Wide Open Country
Nashville-based singer-songwriter Andrew Leahey celebrates life on his forthcoming album Airwaves (out on March 1). Leahey began writing the album while recuperating from a lifesaving brain operation and was drawn to vivacious songs that acknowledge the joy of being alive.
Among those songs was the anthemic, guitar-driven “Make it Last,” which represented a turning point for Leahey.
Americana Music Show Raves Over Charles Wesley Godwin’s “Seneca”
The sense of place runs deep in the grooves of Seneca, the striking debut album by singer-songwriter Charles Wesley Godwin. This 11-song set paints a portrait of his home state of West Virginia that is instantly recognizable yet consistently surprising in its depth.
The music sounds like old-time country and folk music, reinforced with a rock backbone. The standard folk music instruments abound—acoustic guitar, harmonica, mandolin, banjo and fiddle can be heard throughout. But the songs make judicious use of piano, keyboards, electric guitar and horn, providing a subtle edge to many of the tracks.