On Americana trio The Deep Hollow’s sophomore record, Weary Traveler (out 11/9), Micah Walk, Liz Eckert and Dave Littrell dig into a sorrowful life of getting older, longing for a stable home and the sometimes unbearable weight of the open road. With the assist from producer Gary Gordon (Montgomery Gentry, David Davis & /the Warrior River Boys), the band shoots for a much grander sound than their 2016 self-titled debut. “I wasn’t totally sold on having a fuller sound. I was a little nervous going in,” Walk admits. “I was prepared to do it the way we did the last one. I’m really happy with the way it turned out, but it is a little different than our debut.”
Plump cello, violins, and muddy guitar intensify the stories, which are cut from both their personal lives and through the eyes of strangers. “Freedom Street,” which features Gordon tapping on a suitcase for some mellow palpitations, is another one of great misery among the bunch, depicting the reality of homelessness and glossed over with considerably charged political and religious overtones. The trio play off each other quite effectively, often trading songwriting credits, too, and with each honest-to-goodness, off-the-cuff life lesson they share, they bare witness to life’s most critical points.
The Deep Hollow came together as you might expect. Staples of the local music scene of Springfield, Illinois, Walk, and Littrell has an especially long list of previous credits and musical explorations, from collaborating in other Americana bands to touring extensively in a prog-rock band. Notably, Walk worked on a project with Jamie Candiloro, whose biggest collaborators include Ryan Adams, Willie Nelson, and The Eagles, among others. Eckert comes from a predominantly community theatre background, and she did try out for American Idol once and made it all the way to Hollywood. While her star wasn’t catapulted into the stratosphere then…..READ MORE