Nashville Based Songwriter Chris Moyse Has Released New Album "Bitter Ballads & Cynical Prayers"

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"With clear folksy music, Chris Moyse combines wry commentary with nostalgia, as he’s thankful we live til we die. Bitter Ballads & Cynical Prayers is precisely what its title implies, sardonic observation with stringed instruments in raw arrangements." - Melissa Clarke, Americana Highways

At times lush and full and at other times sparse and personal, Bitter Ballads & Cynical Prayers is the debut LP from Nashville-based artist Chris Moyse. After winning the New Folk songwriting competition at the 2017 Kerrville Folk Fest, Moyse found himself back at the drawing board. “I was trying to live up to some sort of standard in my songs which can cripple creativity. I had to learn how to write again and trust my instincts.” The result was a batch of 10 songs that is some of his most personal work yet.

Songs like “Time’s Gonna Tell” and “Dancing Round a Fire” offer up a different approach to break-up songs, weaving imagery together into brief snapshots of a person moving on from heartache with a sense of hope. “Live Till We Die” and “Hurricane Blues” feature fictional characters wrestling with topics like death, family, and finding one’s place in the world. On “I’m Not Your Man”, Moyse picks a Leonard Cohen-esque guitar part while singing “I belong to the highway / I belong to these strings / I belong where the wild wind blows / I belong to the song I sing”. It evokes a sense of growth and coming to terms with yourself.

Produced by Shawn Byrne (who has worked with artists like Mark Knopfler and Mary Gauthier), the record was made at two different studios in Nashville, TN with a stellar cast of musicians.

01. Time's Gonna Tell (3:09)
02. Live Till We Die (3:36)
03. Pueblo Dust (4:11)
04. How Deep Can You Dig? (3:25)
05. Drinking Again (3:26)
06. Dancing Round A Fire (3:06)
07. Magician Song (3:01)
08. Hurricane Blues (3:36)
09. I'm Not Your Man (3:36)
10. Maria (3:39)
11. Reprise (0:34)

Chris Moyse : Guitars, Vocals, Percussion
Erin Nelson : Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals
Katie Blomarz : Bass, Background Vocals
Shawn Byrne : Guitars, Mandolin, Background Vocals
Steven Cooper : Electric Guitar
John Henry Trinko : B3, Keys
Adam Haynes : Fiddle
Kirsten Maxwell : Harmony Vocals

Quite a good album folks, nice mellow music to have in your collection in these dark times, and it can be purchased as CD from here or digitally from here.