Gregory Ackerman gets meta for “Good Song” single about songwriting; Teams with Illuminati Hotties for abrupt start-stop love affair tune “Losing Sense.”

 Song is latest release taken from upcoming sophomore album “Still Waiting Still,” out Sept 17^th. Hear both tunes now via Folk Radio UK, American Songwriter.
 
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Gregory Ackerman as photographed by Nell T Sherman
 
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Gregory Ackerman | “Good Song” + “Losing Sense”
 

 

[STREAM] | https://fanatic.lnk.to/GregoryAckerman-GoodSong

 
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Check out “Good Song” by Gregory Ackerman at Folk Radio UK or Americana Highways and listen to the B-side “Losing Sense” (feat. Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties) at American Songwriter or click the links above!
 
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Folk Radio UK describes Gregory Ackerman’s latest single “Good Song” as “an infectious laid-back hazy number, lyrically sincere and couched in more than a little ray of that west coast sunshine.” The song is the latest single taken from Ackerman’s upcoming sophomore full-length Still Waiting Still, arriving Sept. 17^th.
 
American Songwriter comments on the single’s non-album B-side “Losing Sense” (which features backing vocals from Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties), “Ackerman’s deep, throaty tenor reverberates across the drum kit, as he recounts his crash course in love during a pandemic,” describing Tudzin’s contribution as, “peeking out in haunted whispers to counterbalance Ackerman’s swarthier tone.”
 
Ackerman says, “I wrote ‘Good Song’ out of this feeling of desperation that I just wanted my music to be heard. I began to think about how one creates a ‘good’ song, and the lyrics just started to come together about the notion of pouring yourself into a song in hopes to even get considered as a ‘good’ songwriter.
 
“The writing process can be so painful sometimes (‘dredging up feelings of the past’), and no matter how much heart and soul you put into a song, there’s always the chance that it can be ultimately overlooked. I guess that’s similar to life in general, and music truly echoes life in all its ups and downs, joys and sorrows.”
 
About the single’s non-album B-side “Losing Sense,” Ackerman reveals a story of personal heartbreak, saying, “I wrote it after the abrupt end to an abrupt start of a beautiful thing with a beautiful neighbor. It started strong and intensely, and burned out just as quickly. Crashed and burned, perhaps. You can’t put too much pressure on yourself or on the other person in these scenarios, and I did both.
 
“I asked Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties to work on this track with me. She provided backing vocals, and I am very grateful that she did. Since I thought the song was more along the lines of ‘rock n roll’ than some of my previous tunes, I thought that Sarah’s ‘tenderpunk’-ness would lend itself perfectly.”
 
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Gregory Ackerman
Still Waiting Still
Sept. 17^th, 2021
(S/R)
 

Track Listing:
 
01. Intro
02. Think Straight (STREAM | WAV)
03. Full Grown (VIDEO | STREAM)
04. Peace of Mind
05. Good Song (STREAM)
06. Seasonal Living
07. Happy Phase
08. 2023
09. Mr. Moon
10. For Rob
11. Right Again
12. My Heart Goeth
13. All This Thinking
 
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Gregory Ackerman | “Full Grown”
 

 

[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVkradiG_DY
 
[STREAM] | https://Fanatic.lnk.to/GregoryAckerman-FullGrown
 
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Gregory Ackerman | About
 

“I used to feel like I was the only one that should have a say in my process,” says Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Gregory Ackerman of his music. “I’ve since discovered that both life and music get better the more people you share them with.”
 
The latest work that Ackerman is sharing with the world is Still Waiting Still (out Sept. 17^th, 2021), the follow-up to 2019’s “Stresslove EP” (V2/Munich Records), and Ackerman’s first full-length since his debut album And Friends in 2018.
 
Still Waiting Still was produced by Pierre de Reeder of Rilo Kiley who adds touches of hypnotic mysticism on top of the California summer sunset melodies, which beautifully combine with Ackerman’s plainspoken philosophical lyrics and twisty, dexterous guitar to create what is now Ackerman’s signature sound.
 
The title of Still Waiting Still’s first single seems to reference the evolution in Ackerman’s thinking. “Full Grown,” originally a spare song written when he was only 20-years-old
(Ackerman is now 28), is given a full production makeover for inclusion on Still Waiting Still.
 
“For the rendition of ‘Full Grown’ on Still Waiting Still, I had violinist Gabriel Wheaton update it with a beautiful string arrangement. His contribution resulted in an amazingly thematic version of what I now consider to be an ‘old classic’ from my catalog.”
 
In addition to Wheaton, new friends that Ackerman has invited to participate in creating Still Waiting Still include other Los Angeles-area talents such as Grant Milliken, Eva B. Ross, Shelby Gogreve, and Theo and Mark Federonic.
 
“These are all great musicians that I met playing shows in Los Angeles,” Ackerman says. “This new personnel, combined with my trusty foundation (Ackerman’s brother Eric, close friend
Keenan McDaniel, and friend and producer, de Reeder), helped Still Waiting Still become a lively collection of brand-new material mixed with songs that I’d written years ago.”
 
Ackerman guesses that half of Still Waiting Still’s 13 songs were written while he was in college, shortly after he had begun to write and record in earnest. His posts of the results on
Soundcloud revealed that listeners liked what they heard, and Ackerman was later signed on an unsolicited demo to V2 –affiliated singer-songwriter offshoot, Munich Records.
 
“For this album I wanted my past self and current self to align again as one fluid artist. All of the songs on Still Waiting Still have an inherent grit or humor to them, and were written with a youthful ironic moodiness which I relate to once again as a 28-year-old.”
 
“I wanted to bring back the states of mind that I used to feel,” Ackerman continues, going on to reference the album’s second upcoming single, the aptly titled, “Good Song,” in which he sings about “dredging up feelings from the past,” while trying to write a song about writing songs.
 
“‘Good Song’ came out of my frustration in feeling the pressure to make ‘likeable’ music,” Ackerman confesses. “I was constantly feeling mostly self- imposed pressure to write a ‘hit song,’ and I remember being able to finally take a step back from that mindset and look at it humorously. Why not write a song about trying to write a good song?”
 
Still Waiting Still contains 13 of ‘em actually, and Ackerman is proud.
 
“It’s not perfect, just as nothing with a heartbeat ever is, but I hope that it represents some part of me that perhaps I could not express any other way.”
 
Still Waiting Still, the second album by Gregory Ackerman, arrives on Sept. 17th, 2021 preceded by the singles “Full Grown” (out now), “Good Song” (July 23rd), and “Mr. Moon” (Aug 20th). Gregory Ackerman is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
 
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Gregory Ackerman | Links
 
ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SPOTIFY : APPLE : BANDCAMP
 
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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
 
WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : INSTAGRAM : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL