Greensboro, NC’s genre-defying “y’allternative” outfit, Old Heavy Hands, sets the musical stage ablaze with their latest album, Small Fires. This collection of raw and emotionally charged tracks showcases the band’s evolution, blending southern rock, Muscle Shoals Americana, alt-rock, and punk influences into a powerful narrative of personal growth and resilience.
The pulsating new single from Greensboro band Old Heavy Hands is built upon a thudding bass line and thumping drums. It’s hypnotic, absorbing songwriting and makes for an engaging listen. The twanging guitars give way to a grungier sound as the song grows, culminating in a searing solo from David Self, just as the characters in the video go down into the fires of Hell. Larry Wayne Slaton’s voice is emotive and full of weary character while Nathan James Hall delivers an excellent reply with the call and response vocals.
We’re very excited to be speaking today with acclaimed electropop/dreampop artist Josh Rennie-Hynes; holiday greetings and salutations, Josh! Before we dive into the Q&A mosh-pit, could you explain to our ever-inquisitive readers what the electropop/dreampop genre of music is all about? How would you define it to a music aficionado just dipping their toe into that particular music style?
Nice to speak with you. I think dreampop/electropop has electronic elements, synths and drum tracks etc. The dreaminess to me is in the melodies and production. I think the music should transport the listener to some place else. That’s what I tried to achieve myself when I made this album. I wanted it to feel dreamline and ethereal.
The Helltones’ bright, lively sound combines jazz, R&B, doo-wop, surf music and other diverse elements with the deeply felt lyrics of main songwriter, singer and band leader Darwin Siegaldoud. The band’s uplifting music contradicts their foreboding name.
Gwen Levey punches through the morass of her life on Not the Girl Next Door. This is a hard-driving country-rock EP that finds Levy taking control and reveling in it. The five songs chronicle her realizing that partying hard with people who don’t care about your feelings is not the way (“Toxic City”), and guides us straight through to loving forgiveness (“The Next Lifetime”) and embracing yourself (“Not the Girl Next Door”). The EP closes with “Barefoot and Pregnant,” a retro-country banger that mocks the repeal of Roe v. Wade. This arena-ready collection cements Levey as an artist to keep an eye on.
