Americana Highways is hosting this premiere of Old Heavy Hands’ song “All the Time in the World” from their new album Small Fires, slated to be released on January 19. Small Fires was produced by Danny Fonorow and Old Heavy Hands; engineered by Mitch Easter, Ted Comberford and Benjy Johnson; mixed by Henry Lunetta and mastered by Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone.
“I felt like it was like the zombie film that wouldn’t die.” So says Augusta Palmer, filmmaker and associate professor of communication arts at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, about her latest movie, The Blues Society, enjoying its world premiere at the Indie Memphis Film Festival this coming Sunday. But the producer/director isn’t talking about any scary on-screen content; her “zombie” comment refers to the film’s half-genesis nearly 10 years ago, and the way it insisted on being made despite Palmer’s other commitments.
She had compelling personal reasons to see it through: Her father was the late musician and writer Robert Palmer, who helped found the Memphis Country Blues Society in the mid-’60s. Her mother Mary Branton was also deeply involved in the blues festivals that the society staged at the Overton Park Shell from 1966-1969. A decade ago, Augusta Palmer saw footage from the final year of those concerts — shot by Adelphi Records owner Gene Rosenthal — and it resonated deeply with her.
From Oakland, California, The Helltones return to our blog with the gorgeously stripped-back and soulful “Nothing Compares to You.” The song is full of heart and emotion, offering warm retro tones that conjure the classic records of the 1960s.
“Nothing Compares to You” starts incredibly stripped-back with a warm but purposeful bass line that begins to flesh out the song’s melody. Staccato guitar heralds the introduction of more layers. The guitar churns out classic, slow rock ’n’ roll licks whilst the drums provide a sense of motion and direction. The musical layers remain wonderfully raw over the verses, allowing melody and vintage textures to subtly surround the vocal.
Oakland garage rockers The Helltones bring a beachy, modern doo-wop vibe to their new album Medusa (out Nov. 17), drawing inspiration from psychedelic surf, soulful Americana & retro rhythm and blues; its harmonized backing vocals, sun-kissed hand claps, grooving organ and overdriven guitar create a cinematic album about love, addiction, picking fights, making up and navigating adulthood while maintaining your sanity.
You can hear that lush and limitless vibe throughout Beekeeper Spaceman. Today we are pleased to premiere a new taste of the album in the form of “Ninety Five,” which sports a crunchy post-punk feel and a steadfast sense of sadness about the fact that most of us grow out of childlike wonder.
Born out of an online multimedia project called Fire Bones, the duo—primary songwriter/ singer/guitarist Greg Brownderville and producer/multi-instrumentalist Spencer Kenney—have shared bills with artists like Erykah Badu, Leon Bridges, Shakey Graves and Black Pumas, and have been lauded in both local music outlets (Dallas Observer, Central Track) and national literary publications (Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Virginia Quarterly Review, LITHUB). Brownderville is editor-in-chief of the literary magazine Southwest Review and author of three books of poetry, while Kenney fronts a solo electro-pop project under his own name and is involved with a variety of acts on the Dallas-based Dolfin Records label.