Songs about The Simpsons or bands even inspired by the series aren’t a new concept, but I doubt they get any more wistful than Tom Freund does as he sings about “Homer Simpson’s Clouds”. The track was released as part of the “East Of Lincoln” record which was released in 2018 on Surf Road Records and is directed by Phineas and Ferb’s Swampy Marsh and production by Surfer Jack productions.
We are delighted to share the video premiere of ‘West of Juarez’, the latest single from the acclaimed Stephie James. The song is taken from the well-received EP ‘These Days’, which is a favourite here at AUK. Check out the review here. The cinematic video is full of drama, the perfect complement to James’s weary, story-telling vocal.
Taking Quinn’s vision and running with it are producers Mike Stankiewicz and Micah Hulscher—the latter of which is best known as the keyboard player for Margo Price. Hulscher also rope-and-doped fellow Pricetag band members Dillon Napier (drums) and Jamie Davis (guitar) into the session, and then brought in some top notch ringers in “Smokin’” Brett Resnick known for laying down steel licks for Kelsey Waldon and now Kacey Musgraves, and the immortal Laur Joamets of Sturgill Simpson and now Drivin’ & Cryin’ fame.
Did you have a musical mentor? If so, who was it and how did they influence you?
As far as a mentor goes, I can’t say I’ve ever had someone who took me up under their wing and showed me much. I had more strong examples of people who loved to play music. My mom played in a small touring band when I was little and my grandparents during holidays would encourage us all to pick up instruments and play along with old country gospel songs. I’m largely self taught and have kinda marched to my own drum with tons of encouragement from family and friends through the years.
INDIGO, a playlist by Spotify: “A new shade of country”
Today, we are pleased to debut the new track by Stuffy Shmitt. On “Jim’s Dad,” Stuffy channels Lou Reed, Tom Waits, and even a little Mountain Goats and crafts a track that is easy going… and extremely dark.
Speaking to Punknews, Stuffy said: “I used to hang out at a bar called Drake’s Drum in Manhattan. I played rock and roll a lot. I drank a lot. I had a friend called Lory Lazarus who didn’t drink at all, looked like Harpo Marx and wrote musical comedies—I hate musical comedies. He wore orange a lot—I hate orange. One of his musicals, The Reunion of Sam, had a scene where a couch gave birth to many little foam-rubber couches. The song was called “I Vouch For A Couch”—that will give you an idea of where we’re going here. Lory wanted to write songs with me. I didn’t wanna write songs with Lory. He kept hounding me. So finally I made a deal with him. We’d go around the corner to my fifth floor walk-up and write songs. If it took over twenty minutes to write one, he would have to go to Drake’s Drum with me and buy me drinks ’til 4 a.m. As a result, we wrote something like 15 songs in under 20 minutes. They were ridiculous but really catchy. We laughed for 19 minutes straight and the session was over.