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.

Charlie Hager's Truth And Love Now Released!!

"It’s lush with details that draw you in and make you listen with a keen ear." - Steve Semeraro, Americana Highways

In 2016, American Saga, his first album was released. It was received well by the media. During 2016 and 2017 Charlie played with his band at numerous venues around Nashville and on several radio stations live in both Nashville and Knoxville. Also, he began working on his sophomore album, "Truth And Love".

In July of 2018, he relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada because of his work with a production company. He is also working on establishing himself on the west coast.

At the end of 2018, the new album was completed and is now released on Flour Sack Cape Records. The album is a collection of new songs and ones that have been written up to 10 years ago. Touching on folk and country, Charlie says of the album:

"Technically, the Truth And Love album was conceived in 2015 just prior to the release of my American Saga album in March of 2016. Originally, I had this idea of making an album called “The X-Files” in honor of my life with my x-wife. However, in May of 2016, I was watching the news about the primaries and noticed how just about everyone involved in the election was lying so I started writing a song which eventually ended up being the title track."

This mighty great album is now available as a digital download for $9.99 USD by going HERE and clicking on the "Get Album" link once you're there!!

Nick Nace's 'Wrestling With The Mystery' Now Released!!

Wrestling With The Mystery, Nace’s latest full-length effort, is as open-hearted and sincere as it is addictively catchy and melodic, recalling the fine country-folk efforts of Hayes Carll, Justin Townes Earle, Slaid Cleaves and James McMurtry. Recorded with producer John Latham, who also provided guitar and vocals to the record, at Nashville’s Cafe Rooster, the album features stories that are intimately, even painfully, personal, touching and tragic.

"Cut from a James McMurtry mold, this Canadian to NY to Nashville singer-songwriter has penetrating tales. What sets him apart is that he tells them with choice lyrics. The LP has a presence, a haunting arrangement with a crisp acoustic guitar that will grab ears." - John Apice, Americana Highways

"Listening to these various tales, it seems that Nace keenly observes just about everything and forgets little. Like his regret in the last tune, these songs will linger. They have staying power." - Jim Hynes, Glide Magazine

This is one great album folks which you can now purchase digitally from one of the following sites:

CD BABY
7DIGITAL
APPLE MUSIC

Charlie Hager Set To Release Truth And Love On November 1

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Charlie Hager is a singer/songwriter from Nashville, Tn. He credits the majority of his musical abilities to his father, James Bernard, a longtime West Virginia bluegrass player from the 1940's to his death in 1981. His writing styles and influences come mostly from Texas based singer/songwriters from Billy Jo Shaver, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and J.J. Cale. In his youth, Charlie, decided to not attend a large high school in Nashville and instead moved out the the Tennessee countryside to a small rural high school in Trousdale County which instilled his small town values. After graduation and a few years at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, he decided to join the U.S. Marine Corps and travel the world and for the first time started playing and writing. In 1991, he returned to Nashville and began playing local venues in the area. In the summer of 1993, he was married and had 3 children. During this time his music was placed on a back burner. In 2011 and after a divorce, Charlie returned to the Nashville music scene and with the help of some of his musical friends began playing regular shows and writing songs again.

In 2016, American Saga, his first album was released. It was received well by the media. During 2016 and 2017 Charlie played with his band at numerous venues around Nashville and on several radio stations live in both Nashville and Knoxville. Also, he began working on his sophomore album, "Truth And Love".

In July of 2018, he relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada because of his work with a production company. He is also working on establishing himself on the west coast.

At the end of 2018, the new album was completed and will now be released on Flour Sack Cape Records. The album is a collection of new songs and ones that have been written up to 10 years ago. Touching on folk and country, Charlie says of the album:

"Technically, the Truth And Love album was conceived in 2015 just prior to the release of my American Saga album in March of 2016. Originally, I had this idea of making an album called “The X-Files” in honor of my life with my x-wife. However, in May of 2016, I was watching the news about the primaries and noticed how just about everyone involved in the election was lying so I started writing a song which eventually ended up being the title track."

01 - Truth And Love
02 - Stole My Heart
03 - Never Good
04 - Big Star
05 - This Ain't Love
06 - All Yours
07 - She Wants To Believe
08 - Nothing To Do With You
09 - Trying To Lay The Blame
10 - Stand A Chance At All

Vocals: Charlie Hager / Drums & Percussion: Erin Nelson / Bass Guitar, Electric & Acoustic Guitar: Joe Lekkas / Electric Guitar & Harmonies- Andrew Lipow / Harmonies: Ryan Dishen and Benjamin Douglas / Trumpet: Robert Gay / Fiddle: Daniel Foulks / Steel Guitar: C.J. Colandrea / Keyboard: Benjamin Douglas

The Truth and Love Album has been a long time coming. The first recordings started in the fall of 2016 and the final masters arrived in the fall of 2018. A serious amount of thought and debate has come in how this album would be released. It was finally decided it would be a digital release of the album in Fall of 2019 followed by single releases accompanied with music videos.

Nick Nace To Release Solo Debut 'Wrestling With The Mystery' October 25

Nick Nace’s path from Canada to New York City to Nashville has been one filled with music, but the acclaimed folk singer-songwriter admits his muse led him in a different direction throughout his younger days than it does presently. Even though he was raised on a steady diet of Queen, The Band, the Beatles and even Beck, it was the bite of the acting bug that led him to relocate from the Great White North to the Great White Way.

“I always loved music, but I was a drama kid,” he admits. Fresh out of high school in the late ‘90s Nace moved to New York City to pursue acting, and it was then his musical urges began taking a greater hold of his spirit than ever before. He bought a cheap, blue guitar and found himself playing in student housing halls more frequently as the months passed. He was attending acting school, but that cheap guitar was guiding him towards the tunes.

“I loved acting school,” he remembers. “But I could feel this pull to the guitar and songs that I had never felt for drama. Then I heard Bob Dylan’s first record and my mind was blown. The rawness and energy floored me. I was hooked. then my friend played me some Velvet Underground and I couldn’t stop listening. It had soul, it had honesty. After that, I pretty much stopped acting.”

“Why would I be a conduit for someone else’s words when I could write my own,” Nace asked himself during that college-aged musical enlightening.

Soon after forming his first folk duo, A Brief View of the Hudson, with a friend from acting school, Nace found himself with prime weekly gigs, and eventually recording an EP and an LP with the duo. And for a while, that was enough. But the urge to grow as a songwriter and to tell new stories in new ways led him to discover that the Big Apple wasn’t where he needed to be in order to move ahead.

Nace has come a very long way since moving into an East Nashville basement apartment, sight unseen, in December of 2015. He discovered a community of talented, like minded writers and musicians and began working with them. He’s toured Ireland, Canada and throughout the United States, including prized slots at the Mississippi Songwriters Festival, Dripping Springs Songwriter Festival and even won the Gulf Coast Songwriter Shootout.

Wrestling With The Mystery, Nace’s latest full-length effort, is as open-hearted and sincere as it is addictively catchy and melodic, recalling the fine country-folk efforts of Hayes Carll, Justin Townes Earle, Slaid Cleaves and James McMurtry. Recorded with producer John Latham, who also provided guitar and vocals to the record, at Nashville’s Cafe Rooster, the album features stories that are intimately, even painfully, personal, touching and tragic, and is set for release on October 25.

"Nick Nace's songs pair well with a good, long drive. Each one moves just at the right speed, poetically painting scenes of all those characters you meet out on the road -- and all those thoughts you think alone behind the wheel. He's not just a songwriter's songwriter, he's a troubadour's troubadour." - Jaimee Harris (Songwriter)

01 - One More Song
02 - Back On The Radio
03 - Fly In A Bottle
04 - Wine & Dine
05 - Her Favourite Dirty Joke
06 - Old Records
07 - Moonbaby
08 - Wake Up Next To You
09 - White Trash Southern Belle
10 - Arkansas Traveler
11 - Clarksdale Katie
12 - Grandpa's Old Guitar

“I love Nick’s writing style, reminds me of John Prine but with it’s own character also, check him out!” - Mick Flannery (Songwriter)

One great album this one folks which you can pre-order HERE.

Libby Koch To Release New Album 'Redemption 10: Live At Blue Rock' October 18

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of her first album, Redemption, Americana singer-songwriter Libby Koch is releasing a full band, track-for-track reimagining of the original solo acoustic recording. Redemption 10: Live at Blue Rock will be released by Berkalin Records on October 18, 2019.

The format of this record was an experiment for Koch. Recording her 2016 album Just Move On on Music Row in Nashville hooked Libby on the energy of making a record with a band playing the songs together, recording live in the studio. She wondered what it might be like to add a live studio audience to the equation - to let fans be part of the experience as well. Koch found the perfect location for this endeavor at Blue Rock Artist Ranch and Studio in Wimberley, Texas. Blue Rock is a state of the art studio and performance space in the Texas Hill Country that has the capability to film and broadcast live performances while providing an intimate experience for the audience and capturing pristine audio of the performance.

With the location set, Libby enlisted her friend Patterson Barrett (Buddy Miller, Jerry Jeff Walker, Nanci Griffith) to co-produce the project and assemble an all-star band of Austin musicians to record Redemption 10 in front of a live studio audience at Blue Rock. Tickets quickly sold out. Libby and the band played the album straight through once and then played a second take of a couple of songs, but in the end they decided that the flow and the feeling of the first takes were the ones that needed to be on the record. It was a magical evening.

While not a traditional live album, the atmosphere and the feedback from the crowd absolutely fed the band and shaped the experience that was caught on tape. Koch and her band sound relaxed and in an energized zone that only a live setting can provide, but at the same time they have the tight knit sound of an experienced studio band. In the end the experiment was a resounding success. The record shows a Libby Koch that her fans have loved for a decade now and presented these tracks in a fuller more realized way. If Redemption 10 is your introduction to Koch, you are in for major musical treat.

The band of Austin all-stars included lead guitarist Bill Browder (Denim, Steve Fromholz), drummer Eddie Cantu (Bruce Robison, Maren Morris), violinist Javier Chaparro (Austin Symphony, John Denver), and Glenn Schuetz (Jimmy LaFave). Libby played acoustic guitar, harmonica, and sang lead vocals, while Patterson Barrett rounded out the sound of the record by providing pedal steel, piano, organ, mandolin, and harmony vocals.

"In an era of widespread vocal sweetness, Libby Koch has that rare blend of powerful real-life honesty in her vocals that lends instant depth and credibility to her songs." - Melissa Clarke, Americana Highways

01 - Houston
02 - Just The Way
03 - Can't Complain
04 - Stay With Me
05 - Redemption
06 - How Long
07 - Down
08 - Don't Give Up On Me
09 - Ready Now
10 - I Still Miss Someone

One mighty fine album this one folks and you purchase the CD which includes a download of the album for $20 from HERE.

Texas Songwriter Helene Cronin Releases Old Ghosts & Lost Causes

Helene Cronin spent over 15 years performing and songwriting -- often for other people -- before she awakened to the idea that she needed to follow her muse and start making records that more accurately represent the songs coming from her own heart. Following 2 recent EPs, Old Ghosts & Lost Causes is her first full length offering, although Cronin is a seasoned player. Produced by Matt King and featuring Kenny Vaughan, Byron House and others, the album serves up Cronin’s phenomenal songwriting in a sonic landscape that runs the gamut of the label Americana with hard driving guitar and thoughtful, top shelf musicianship.

The crux of it all is the lyrical mastery and vocal delivery that made Cronin a New Folk winner at the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival in 2018.  Starting off the album is the first single, "Careless With a Heart", a reflective song that considers how we treat the fragile but resilient human heart. Following that is the blues-infused "Mean Bone", a co-write with her novelist daughter, Alex, which examines the idea: what if someone did in fact have a "mean bone in his body" contrary to the popular use of that expression? From that song about the darker side of humanity, Cronin flows into what she calls a centerpiece of the album, the uplifting "Humankind" which celebrates people's inherent desire to care for others. Later in “Riding The Gray Line”,  she turns her attention to a host of characters riding a Greyhound bus and weaves their stories over an acoustic-based bed. To close out the record Helene returns fully to her folk roots with "Ghost", a six minute ballad, recounting from his perspective the story of a dead husband, performed completely solo long after the band had finished their work in the studio.

Overall, Old Ghosts & Lost Causes is the perfect vehicle for the precision of Helene Cronin’s songs. It showcases her versatility as a writer and performer while maintaining a cohesive overall feeling.  In a world obsessed with singles and rushing to the next thing, Old Ghosts will grab ahold of you and demand that you sit and give it the attention a proper album deserves.

“Helene Cronin can flat out spin a lyric. Her ability to crawl within a subject and pull a story or emotion out the other end is what makes her a brilliant songwriter. Those writing chops delivered with those earthy vocals have made her one of the best artists I’ve heard in a long time.” - Terri Hendrix, Songwriter

01 - Careless With A Heart
02 - Mean Bone
03 - Humankind
04 - Devil I Know
05 - Riding The Gray Line
06 - El Camino Fly
07 - In A Kiss
08 - The Last Cowboy
09 - God Doesn't
10 - Mongrels And Mutts
11 - Ghost

"There’s some of Gretchen Peters’ darkness and incisive poetry in Helene Cronin’s terrific debut, and that alone should be more than enough for singer-songwriter fans to give Cronin their attention. Cronin is a wordsmith who pulls no punches. Some songs may make you uncomfortable but leave you marveling at her songwriting just the same." -Jim Hynes, Elmore Magazine

You can stream and download this top-shelf album from HERE or purchase the CD from HERE.