Fanatic is a music marketing company established by Josh Bloom in 1997 to build fan-to-fan connections between artists and the media. For 25 years, Fanatic has continued to help launch careers through the strategic advocacy of creative talent.
Single taken from “Think Like Spring,” dreamy debut
album from former member of slowcore pioneers Idaho, Pete Yorn’s longtime
touring band. +++
Terry Borden of Blesson Roy as photographed by Ankhurr Chawaak +++ PLAY, POST & SHARE Blesson Roy | “Thousand”
In the midst of a global pandemic, many have struggled
to film while considering safety guidelines — especially when concepts for a
scene often involve being indoors or having multiple people on set. When directing the music video for Blesson Roy’s “Thousand,”Jenna Pace
decided to confront the challenges presented by the virus, and use a COVID-safe
method of filming to her advantage, building a beautifully simplistic video
complimented by nature and fresh air. “‘Thousand’
is more of an emotional, anthemic recording for me, which is a bit of a
departure. It was thrilling to construct ‘Thousand’
and draw on unbridled emotion for this one,” says Blesson Roy mastermind, Terry
Borden. Hear “Thousand”
via Bad
Copy and see the video at Culture
Collide or at the links below. +++
[MUSIC
VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gi7eOyIxtc +++ Blesson Roy | In The Press “Articulate songwriting... deliciously catchy hooks.”
— American Songwriter “A new sound in a new decade.” — PopMatters “Dreamy and earthy. — The Big Takeover “Intricately-arranged pop.” — MXDWN “One of the catchiest numbers of the year.” — Stereo Embers “Hypnotic.” — Treble “Sunny, Beach
Boys-esque.” — Glide Magazine “Beach Boys
with Big Star’s vibrant melodies.” —
Beats Per Minute “Will expand your mind.” — BTRtoday +++
Order Think Like Spring by Blesson Roy as a deluxe-package 180gm
white vinyl edition at Bandcamp here. +++ Blesson Roy Think
Like Spring Out Now (Slow Start Records) Streaming Link: STREAM FULL LP
Track Listing: 01. Soothe (STREAM) 02. Fingerprints Of Love 03. Undertow (STREAM | VIDEO) 04. Should’ve Known Better (LYRIC VIDEO) 05. Ana Left Spain 06. Stays With You (STREAM | VIDEO | LYRIC VIDEO) 07. The Loving Sea 08. Waterfall Drops 09. Maria Rain 10. Thousand (STREAM | VIDEO) 11. Near 12. I Can See You 13. Falling 14. The Gaps +++ Blesson Roy | About Think Like Spring is the debut album from life-long “music lover and
music doer,” Terry Borden, the man
behind Blesson Roy, and follows-up Borden’s
twin 2020 EPs “Time Is A Crime”
and “Time Is A Crime (Almost Acoustic).” The album is the 14-song dreamy pop
reflection of a child of 1970’s California whose early love of AM radio and his
brother’s record collection led to membership in slowcore pioneers Idaho and Pete Yorn’s band Dirty Bird.
Living in the UK during the explosion of subculture labels 4AD, Creation, Factory, and Rough Trade has also heavily influenced the Blesson Roy sound. Think Like Spring was recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown. “I was alone in the studio adjacent to my home and had
no distractions other than the feeling of being truly alone in the recording
space, for days and weeks on end,” Borden
explains. “The positive effect of the pandemic isolation in the studio was the
time and ability to focus on the musical details in the songs, and extend the
searches for the right chemical reactions that manifested in each track.” “Think Like Spring is a suggestion for a train of thought, which is
focused on positivity and renewal,” Borden
continues, discussing the album’s overall concept. “This is an especially
important time for all of us to embrace the new positive and negative paradigm
shifts with a sense of creativity and invention.” About the album’s upcoming singles, Borden says, “‘Undertow’ took on a darker and lusher soundscape than I had
originally imagined, having written that one as a Leonard Cohen or Nick Drake-influenced
acoustic guitar song. As the recording unfolded, however, I realized that ‘Undertow’ needed a dark ambient
soundscape rather than a stripped-down acoustic production.” Borden explains that “Stays
With You” was “a journey into dynamics with the chorus exploding out of the
verses. It was a lot of fun and very satisfying to create the verse and chorus
as almost two different bits of music that tied together emotionally but
remained separate dynamically.” “I ventured into some new areas musically,” he says of
‘Thousand,’ which “became more of an
emotional, anthemic recording; a bit of a departure. It was thrilling to
construct ‘Thousand’ and draw on
unbridled emotion for that one.” “I am pleased that a song with the characteristics of ‘Undertow’ sits next to an indie rocker
like ‘Should’ve Known Better,’Borden says of the album’s final
planned single. “I have always loved records that have different types of songs
with a fearless approach to production that serves the song not the style of
music. The Beatles’ ‘White Album’ is the pinnacle of this
type of approach.” Ultimately, Borden
says that he tried to give each song a separate identity with a unique
personality. “I can’t say if I succeeded in this, but it was the
way I recorded and structured the sound of each track. Writing and recording Think
Like Spring was pure joy with patches of frustration that happen in any
creative process. The songs and the creation of the recordings felt like a warm
place in a cold and dangerous world.” Think Like Spring by Blesson Roy
is out now via Slow Start Records. Terry Borden is available for
interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information. +++ Blesson Roy | Links ASSETS : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP +++ Josh Bloom at Fanatic
Promotion | Contact WEBSITE
: FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL
Two-time Grammy® winner’s new album “Midlife Priceless”
arrives April 2nd. Read Bryan’s “5
Questions” Ditty TV interview, see song’s video here.
+++
Mark Bryan as photographed by Kirk
Robert.
+++ PLAY, POST & SHARE
About | “A Little
More Rock N Roll” [STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/MarkBryan-ALittleMoreRockNRoll [VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rF7cE0YOdw +++ “It was May of 2019,” Mark Bryan remembers. “Hootie
was about to embark on our first U.S. tour in over ten years, and we had just
made our first full-length album in over ten years. Capitol Nashville decided a single for country radio would give us
the best shot at getting played. “I immediately thought of my ridiculously talented
friend, Steven Fiore from the band Young Mister. I’m a huge fan of the
tunes that he writes for his band, but he also has this stealth ability to
craft a perfect pop-country song. So I told him about the situation with Hootie, and Capitol, and he sent me the demo for ‘A Little More Rock N Roll.’ “I felt an immediate, nostalgic warmth when I heard
it. Capitol sent us some other
songs, including a gem Chris Stapleton
had written, ‘Hold On,’ and there
was no denying it was a solid choice, but I couldn’t get Steven’s song out of my head. “In March of 2020, I started tracking for Midlife
Priceless.I laid a couple of
12-string guitar tracks down for ‘A
Little More Rock N Roll,’ and it was already special. “I had my friends Tim
Nielsen (Bass), and Matt Zutell
(Drums) come over, and I played lead, electric guitar as we tracked along with
the 12-strings. I felt like I should add lap-steel to the track, to try and mix
a little twang in with the rock ’n’ roll we were creating. “We put it through a Leslie speaker cabinet, and it
just put this sweet icing on everything. It started to sound like a single!” +++ Mark Bryan Midlife
Priceless April 2, 2021 (Stone Point Records)
Track Listing: 01. Gotta Get Outta Town (2:49) 02. A Little More Rock N Roll (3:33) (STREAM | VIDEO | INTERVIEW) 03. Wanna Feel Something (3:16) (STREAM
| VIDEO | INTERVIEW) 04. Let Your Soul Light Shine (3:26) 05. Takin’ A Ride (feat. Wyatt Durrette) (2:46) 06. Madelynn Claire (2:51) 07. I Like Your Everything (2:43) 08. Explain That To A Heart (3:23) 09. Like Make Believe (3:14) 10. Growing Wild (3:10) 11. Open Up Lucille (2:25) 12. Wishing (Acoustic) (2:46) (STREAM) +++ PLAY, POST & SHARE
“Out of the ether,” Mark Bryan says of “Wanna
Feel Something,” the first single from his upcoming new solo album Midlife
Priceless (Stone Point Records,
April 2nd, 2021), “I
wrote the first line of the song, ‘Tonight we ride again, just like we did back
when we were best friends and it would never end.’ I wasn’t doing it
intentionally but I liked the way it sang. When I read it back I thought, ‘Holy
shit!’ We were getting ready to go back on tour – maybe that’s what I was
writing about.” Read
the full interview with Mark Bryan
now at American Songwriter and
stream the “Wanna Feel Something”
single and video at the link below! [STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/MarkBryan-WannaFeelSomething [VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET-mfO1v2YY +++ Mark Bryan | About Midlife Priceless is the title of Hootie
& The Blowfish guitarist Mark
Bryan’s fourth solo album. It’s also how he rolls. Three years since the release of Bryan’s previous record, a lot has happened: His 20
million-selling, two-time Grammy®-winning band got back together
for a sold-out arena tour that meant as much to Bryan as it did to the fans that came out by the tens of thousands. “Wanna Feel
Something” is the new album’s first
single for a reason. Tonight we ride again Just like we did back when We were best friends, and it would never end It’s right there. Mark Bryan is about feeling something and making you feel
something. The energy in the buildings around the country that rocked again
with the songs that made Hootie one
of the biggest-selling acts in music history, is all here on Midlife
Priceless. When Bryan
gets to the guitar solo on “Wanna Feel
Something,” it’s a done deal. The album’s title draws a deep parallel,
metaphorically, with a lyric from another of the record’s standout tunes, “Takin’ A Ride,” a duet with Wyatt Durrette, writer of the #1 single
“Beautiful Crazy” by Luke Combs and author of many of the Zac Brown Band’s hits. “Die young as late as you can” It’s a beautiful statement. It’s a mission statement. “That line speaks to the point I am in my life and why
I’m still making music,” Bryan says. Even before Hootie
got back together to be met with love-filled venues as if it were the 1990’s
again, Bryan was living this way.
Through good and bad – especially bad – he was connecting with his youth,
wonder, curiosity, and joy. As defined, “priceless” is something so precious that
its value cannot be determined. A record album has to provide value though, right? One of the reasons that Bryan chose to lead up to the release of Midlife Priceless with a long
string of singles is because so many moods and styles are represented. He
thought to give ‘em a chance to shine on their own, in a different way than
they do as a collection. This might not be an auspicious plan for some artists,
but Bryan’s track record dictates
that he knows his way around a single, and this approach is another example of
how Bryan is living midlife
priceless. Midlife Priceless, the fourth solo album by Hootie & The Blowfish guitarist, Mark Bryan arrives on April
2, 2021.
