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.
Prolific songwriter’s “Still Waiting Still” out Sept.
17th; Meta-single “Good Song” (about writing a “good song”) also out
now w/ Illuminati Hotties collab. +++
Gregory Ackerman as photographed by Nell
T Sherman +++ PLAY, POST & SHARE Gregory Ackerman | “Mr. Moon + Awaken! +
Haunting Me”
[STREAM] | https://Fanatic.lnk.to/GregoryAckerman-MrMoon +++ “Shimmering with delicacy and strength. Breezy as it
is riveting... Ackerman’s work is
intimate and confiding and played with the kind of commanding interior strength
that gives it an instantly timeless quality.” — Stereo
Embers Check out the new three-song bundle from Gregory Ackerman, including “Mr. Moon,” taken from the upcoming album
Still
Waiting Still (Sept. 17th),
along with two non-album tracks “Awaken!”
and “Haunting Me”. +++ Gregory Ackerman | About | “Mr. Moon +
Awaken! + Haunting Me” “‘Mr. Moon’
came about in a similar manner to ‘Good
Song’ (see below),” says Ackerman.
“I think I wrote the two within the same week. I just wanted a simple guitar
melody that I could sing lyrics over, and one night, while staring up at the
full moon, I was captivated by how well I could see the face of the man on the
moon. “I felt such a strong connection to the moon that
night that I just started singing about that ever-present, yet ethereal fella
that just sits in the sky and watches over us each night. Good ol’ Mr. Moon. I
felt connected with the universe, the stars, and the sky, and I figured, hey, ‘above
you, I’ll be shining soon.’ “Getting pretty morbid, but I figured, whenever it is
my time to go, I bet I’ll be up there in the sky with good ol’ Mr. Moon one
day, and that’s not such a bad way to go.” About the two non-album tracks that Ackerman has released with the “Mr. Moon” single, he comments, “I
wrote ‘Awaken!’ one day on the fly
alone in my home studio. I started playing this simple melody line that I
played over and over as a loop and recorded it. That loop then formed the
structure for the whole song. “It was more of an instrumental songwriting exercise,
really, all based off of that repeating line. I wanted it to start small and
build up to these fantastic electric heavy mad choruses. I remember one of my
roommates walking by and commenting ‘nice, using the loop pedal!’ “I ended up calling it ‘Awaken!’ because the structure of the song reminded me of getting
up slowly in the morning and then experiencing all the thoughts, worries,
realities of the day come crashing on you.” “‘Haunting Me’
was written out of this feeling that I wanted to get away from a folk acoustic
sound. I wrote it out of a feeling of frustration of not being heard, not being
attentioned to, by a girl I was interested in. “She was always on my mind and it was really
frustrating to me, so much so that I started joking that she was ‘haunting me.’
I equated being ignored by a girl to a ghost being ignored by the living,
always trying to make contact, but those attempts always being in vain.”
+++
Gregory Ackerman | In The Press
“Bathed
in Californian moonlight, reminiscent of folk and soft rock music coming from
the West Coast in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Ackerman’s
gentle voice is soothing straight out of the gate.” — PopMatters
“I’ve
had this song going around my head since I first heard it.” — Folk Radio UK
“Carries
a sense of nostalgia that is only amplified by Ackerman’s deep and hushed vocal harmonies and slowly strummed
guitar. There is something strangely relatable and pleasing about this lush yet
simple indie folk.” — Glide Magazine
“Oscillates
between giving hope to those who are lovestruck and those who just need a
breath of fresh air.” — Atwood Magazine
“Indie
folk gem... a phenomenal wave of emotions full of lush harmonies and poignant
lyrics.” — Last Day Deaf
“A
stirring percussive ensemble, over moving vocals and guitar.” — Americana Highways
“Hard
to resist.” — Adobe and Teardrops
+++
Gregory Ackerman
Still
Waiting Still Sept. 17th, 2021 (S/R)
Track Listing: 01. Intro 02. Think Straight (STREAM) 03. Full Grown (VIDEO | STREAM) 04. Peace of Mind 05. Good Song (STREAM) 06. Seasonal Living 07. Happy Phase 08. 2023 09. Mr. Moon (STREAM) 10. For Rob 11. Right Again 12. My Heart Goeth
13. All This Thinking +++ PLAY, POST & SHARE Gregory Ackerman | “Good Song” + “Losing
Sense”
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 link above! +++ 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. 17th. 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.” +++ 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.
17th, 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 thematicversion 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. +++ Gregory Ackerman | Links ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SPOTIFY
: APPLE : BANDCAMP +++ Josh Bloom at Fanatic
Promotion | Contact WEBSITE
: FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : INSTAGRAM : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL
Latest by The High Water Marks is first from “Proclaimer
of Things” full-length, arriving Feb. 2022 from Minty Fresh; “Ecstasy Rhymes” LP
out now. +++
The High Water Marks (L-R): Logan
Miller, Hilarie Sidney, Per Ole Bratset, Øystein Megård. Photo credit: Self-Portraits, Illustration by Per
Ole Bratset. +++ The High Water Marks | “Annual
Rings”
The music video for “Annual Rings” by The High
Water Marks was co-created by University of Kentucky students, Wils Quinn and Nicholas Volosky, and produced at the school’s media space The Media Depot. “We were sitting next to the radio on a spring evening
in our small town,” Quinn remembers.
“The next thing we heard was ‘Annual
Rings’ by The High Water Marks
blasting into the quiet Kentucky night. We knew right then and there that we
had to become involved. You could consider it a calling or a spiritual
awakening.” [VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljrUSTi7p_s +++ The High Water Marks | In The Press
“An earworm melody.” — Brooklyn Vegan “Clock-stopping, pulse-raising mega-pop.” — UNCUT “Complex and considered arrangements... Sugar-coated
melodies to spare.” — Pitchfork “Beautifully warm, catchy, high-energy... garage pop
for the masses.” — PASTE +++ The High Water Marks Ecstasy
Rhymes Out Now (Minty Fresh) Streaming Link: STREAM FULL LP
Track Listing: 01. Ode To Lieutenant Glahn 02. Annual Rings (VIDEO) 03. Can You (STREAM | VIDEO) 04. Ecstasy Rhymes 05. Award Show (STREAM) 06. Some Like It Lukewarm 07. The Trouble With Friends (STREAM
| VIDEO) 08. I’ll Be Formal (With You Because of It) 09. Pepin le Bref 10. Accidentally On Purpose 11. Satellite 12. Pretending To Be Loud +++ The High
Water Marks | About
“I am so lucky to have been a musician throughout my
life,” says Hilarie Sidney of The High Water Marks, the band she
fronts out of her adopted home town of Grøa, Norway. The foursome has just released
Ecstasy
Rhymes, its first album in 13 years, via Minty Fresh. You probably know Sidney
best for what she got up to during her time living in Denver, Colorado. Sidney is the co-founder of one of the most influential
musical collectives of the past, oh, forever amount of years. Elephant 6 is a storied, and now legendary, musical collective
and Sidney was as at its nucleus as
a founding member of The Apples in
stereo. It was a “boys club,” Sidney confesses. Sidney was the only woman among her band and the other two
acts – Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control – that were the
most visible members of Elephant 6,
and as the umbrella opened to international recognition and acclaim, and to
seemingly dozens of other bands that wanted to be a part, Sidney’s enthusiasm drifted. Her passion for songwriting never wavered, however. “Having been in the Apples and on the road since 1993, I started to have many more
songs than could ever be released on an Apples
record. I was piling up songs, and being surrounded by a group of men for so
many years, one can lose oneself,” she confides. Sidney eventually found new love, and a new musical
partnership, when she formed The High
Water Marks, releasing a debut album (Songs About The Ocean) in 2003. The
record was written and demoed through the mail with her now-husband and
bandmate, Per Ole Bratset, whom she
initially met at an Apples gig in
Norway in 2002. A follow-up album (Polar) arrived in 2007. By that time, Sidney
and Bratset were an item. “Per and I
had our son in 2005,” Sidney says of
becoming a mother for the second time (Sidney
and Schneider also have a son from
their marriage.) “I realized I wanted a break from touring. That whole life had
begun to wear me out.” The fallout from Sidney’s
divorce from Schneider, and life as
a mom with two boys, led her to officially leave the Apples in 2006 and to put the music business on the back burner
soon after. “Still writing songs, always writing songs...” With that, Sidney
attempted to clean out the closet in 2011, leading to some recording sessions
that eventually had to be scrapped, and leaving her to feel “kind of hopeless,”
she remembers. But drummers are tough! Sidney picked herself up and headed in another direction by
beginning to finish up a Bachelor’s degree, which led to her being awarded a
prestigious study abroad scholarship at the University of Oslo. “Moving was everything I had hoped it would be,” she explains.
“In Norway, we have a work-life balance, health care, a living wage, five weeks
of vacation, and freedom for our youngest son to roam without constant
supervision.” Perhaps most importantly, she started playing music
again. Thirteen years after releasing her last album as The High Water Marks, the band has
completed a new album that reflects the maturity, perseverance, songwriting,
and performing talent that made Sidney’s
contributions to Elephant 6 and the Apples so integral. If she was marginalized at the time, those notions are
blown out by Ecstasy Rhymes, 38 minutes of perfect power pop, one song after
another that will take any fan of the songs that Sidney contributed to Apples
recordings – her voice is instantly recognizable – right back to the most
potent days of that band’s career. As he did on previous releases, Bratset also contributes lead vocals on several songs, all of which
were co-written with Sidney. In
addition to Sidney on Vocals,
Guitars, Keyboards, and Drums, and Bratset
on Vocals and Guitars, the band includes Logan
Miller on Bass, Guitar, and Drums, along with Øystein Megård on Drums. Keyboards, and Backing Vocals. “I feel like for the first time ever, we have a dream
team,” Sidney says. “I have my
partner in crime by my side, like always, but we managed to also find these two
other fantastic people who we can work with so well. We finally have the best
band we’ve ever had and a great record.” Seems Sidney’s
luck as a musician hasn’t run out yet. Ecstasy Rhymes, the first album in 13 years by The
High Water Marks, was released on Nov.
20th, 2020. The band’s next album Proclaimer of Things
arrives Feb. 2022. The album’s first
single “Jenny” is coming up on Sept. 24th, 2021, all via Minty Fresh. +++ The High Water Marks | Links ASSETS : FACEBOOK : INSTAGRAM : SPOTIFY : APPLE : MINTY FRESH +++ Josh Bloom at Fanatic
Promotion | Contact WEBSITE
: FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : INSTAGRAM : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL
2021 remix of Blesson Roy
album cut “Ana Left Spain” to be released Sept. 24th, accompanied by
two all-new tracks. Debut Think Like Spring, out now. +++
Terry Borden of Blesson Roy as photographed by Ankhurr Chawaak +++ PLAY, POST & SHARE Blesson Roy | “Undertow”
[VIDEO
(SWEETENED)]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QliQI73nvM “‘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. I had the time and intention to be open to
following songs in one direction, and then going in the opposite musical
direction, until it seemed that the song had found its way home in the
recording.” — Terry Borden, Blesson Roy “‘Undertow’
is yet another example of a bit of magic from Blesson Roy, and damn if he didn’t fill this song with everything
dope. After I listened to it about five times, I decided I had to make
something that gives a sense of what I see and feel when I hear it. So, I took
a look at an art piece that I was working on and some recent footage I shot
with a model in Death Valley, and start blending them while listening to the
song over and over and over, and I go timeless in my head and when then I come
to, I’m looking at something strangely perfect. “It is layered and dense and colorful and even a bit
haunting with a headless horsewoman, and feels very much like being stuck in an
undertow, maybe gonna die, but just waiting it out kind of patiently until it’s
over. Of course it is dark out and it turns out the whole day had passed, so
oops, I guess I’ll have to get back to everyone tomorrow.” — Sweeten, Director, “Undertow” See the “Sweetened”
video of “Undertow” by Blesson Roy now via It’s
Psychedelic Baby Magazine here
or at the link above. +++
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 | VIDEO [SWEETENED]) 04. Should’ve Known Better (VIDEO | LYRIC VIDEO | REMIX) 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 | 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 +++ PLAY, POST & SHARE Blesson Roy | “Should’ve
Known Better”
Hear “Should’ve
Known Better” by Blesson Roy via
American
Songwriter and see the video at Under
The Radar or at the links below. Calling back to the bright tones and sweet melodies of
Britpop. Amidst a jangly guitar-led instrumental and sharp vocal hook, Terry Borden of Blesson Roy takes listeners on another trip back through his record
collection, showing his ability to incorporate and synthesize styles as both a
creator and a fan. “It’s basically the designed cinematic and aural
engaged focus, rhythm, and pacing of a real ‘climactic’ human moment,” says director
Tom Gorai aka Sweeten, the Grammy® and
Emmy®-nominated producer who has
also produced videos for Pearl Jam (“Jeremy”), Nine Inch Nails, and A Tribe
Called Quest tells Under
The Radarof his clip for the Blesson
Roy single “Should’ve Known Better,”
which depicts a masked Los Angeles, courtesy of a cyclist who biffs it, and a
liquor store parking lot dancer who clearly does not. The “Should’ve
Known Better,” video captures the “happy-sad emotional connection” that Borden – a veteran of slowcore pioneers
Idaho and world-wide tours as part
of Pete Yorn’s band – recently told American
Songwriter he was working towards when writing the song. “I like the
energy, the guitars, and the contrasting bittersweet light and dark tones of
the words and music. The chord progression was persistently coming out when I
picked up the guitar over a long period of time. It required a permanent home!” Influenced by The
Smiths, Leonard Cohen, The Beatles, David Bowie, New Order, Lou Reed, Punk and Post-Punk from the
80s and 90s, as well as the roots of those movements from the 60s and 70s, Borden brings these and more to his
debut album, Think Like Spring, out now via Slow Start Records. +++
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 : SPOTIFY : APPLE +++ Josh Bloom at Fanatic
Promotion | Contact WEBSITE
: FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL
Album out Aug. 20, containing suicide prevention
advocacy song “Good Guy With A Gun” about untimely death of Norwood’s father. +++
Chris
J Norwood as photographed
by Alyssa Leigh Cates +++ PLAY, POST & SHARE Chris J Norwood | “Good Guy With A Gun”
[STREAM]: https://Fanatic.lnk.to/ChrisJNorwood-GoodGuyWithAGun +++ Listen to “Good Guy With A Gun” from I Am Not Cool by Chris J Norwood at The
Bluegrass Stuation or at the link above. Norwood discusses
the song with Dallas Observer here. “I struggled with whether or not to include this song
on the album,” Chris J Norwood says
of his latest single “Good Guy With A
Gun,” from the upcoming I Am Not Cool (Aug. 20th, State
Fair Records), but I realized that losing a parent at a young age is always
going to be a part of me, it’s part of my story, and it’s good for me to keep
singing about it. “As a country, we need to talk more openly about
suicide,” he continues. “Especially as it relates to the gun debate and gun
culture. I feel like suicide is often overlooked in the debate about guns here
in America. We’ve been given fruitless answers about how to stop a bad guy with
a gun, but little in the way of how to stop a good guy with a gun. “I don't have any solutions to offer,” he concludes, “but
my hope is to encourage dialogue, and my hope is also that anyone who needs
help will feel the courage to seek it out. Please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255.” Norwood points out the song's lyric, “Daddy was a good guy,
and always did the best he could. He’d do anything to protect the ones he loved.
That's how I chose to remember my father.” +++ Chris J Norwood I
Am Not Cool Aug. 20th, 2021 (State Fair Records)
Track Listing: 01. I Am Not Cool (Prologue) 02. The Final Girl (VIDEO) 03. Good Guy With A Gun (STREAM) 04. Creature of Bad Habits 05. Leaving Louisiana Behind 06. I Am Not Cool (STREAM
| VIDEO | LYRIC VIDEO) 07. 85 Feet 08. Grandpa Was A Farmer 09. I Need You (To Quit Breaking My Heart) (STREAM
| VIDEO | LYRIC VIDEO) 10. Home Is You And Me 11. Love And Mercy 12. I Wrote You A Song +++ Chris J Norwood | Live
[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VpibyXuq-s [LYRIC VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejVboc8Uj50 [STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/ChrisJNorwood-IAmNotCool-Single +++ Check out the video for the title track
from I Am Not Cool by Chris J Norwood
at The Boot
or listen at Americana
Highways or at the links above. “This
video was so much fun to make,” says Chris
J Norwood of the clip for “I Am Not
Cool,” the title track from his new album (Aug. 20th, State
Fair Records). “Getting to wear fancy clothes, getting to pretend I have
fans, and win awards. It’s a pretty perfect picture of my life and pretty
perfectly captures the sentiment of the lyrics.” Norwood’s wife and bandmate Carrie Norwood agrees, “Preparing for this video wasn’t too
different from performing with the band. I lined up a babysitter, put on the
only make up and dress I’ve worn all week, had a great time singing with Chris, and came back home to kids who
will be waking up early needing breakfast.” +++ PLAY, POST & SHARE Chris J Norwood | “I Need You (To Quit
Breaking My Heart)”
[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=652HDyRNsFI [LYRIC VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfFLWwKWihI [STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/ChrisJNorwood-INeedYouToQuitBreakingMyHeart +++ See
the video for Chris J Norwood’s “I Need You (To Quit Breaking My Heart)” at
Twangville.
Listen at
Americana UK or at the links above. “‘I Need You (To Quit Breaking My
Heart),’ a duet with his wife Carrie, captures the back and forth of
a bickering couple,” says
Twangville in its premiere
coverage of the latest single from Chris
J Norwood’s upcoming I Am Not Cool. “Yet Norwood sets the quarrel against a
happy-go-lucky melody, making the song more charming than exasperating.” Norwood adds, “Carrie
and I thought it would be fun to tell the story of the song in a
tongue-in-cheek modern day context. We thought, “What would it look like if you
got to see the couple in the song’s intimate heated exchange play out over
their Instagram stories,’ and we really cracked ourselves up trying out
different filters for the video. Singing hot dogs will always be funny! Best
viewed on a mobile device.” About the song, Americana UK says, “It’s a sassy
take on the form, with great lyrical hooks – who could resist listening on
after hearing ‘I hope this letter finds you well but I need some time to
myself… PS: here are my regrets’?”Having reeled you in the Dallas based singer-songwriter makes the stay
more than worth the while.” +++ Chris J Norwood | About
Chris
Norwood isn’t cool. Or Chris J
Norwood, as the Dallas-based singer-songwriter bills himself, is not cool. So “not cool” that when searching for a synonym for “uncool”
that starts with “J” in order to complete a lame joke, this writer could not
find one. Pretty damn uncool. Norwoodis honest,
however, and in a world that becomes more cynical by the moment, the kind of
honesty that he conjures and delivers so eloquently and elegantly on his new,
very uncool, album I Am Not Cool (Aug. 20th,
State Fair Records), well, that kind of uncool is... cool? The album is the follow-up to Norwood’s much-praised 2017 debut record Longshot. In addition to Norwood’s
genial ability to say things you may not want to hear and leave you
appreciating the experience, he is also masterful at a kind of tongue-in-cheek
levity that is sorely missing from this genre. There’s only two kinds of music / What’s true and what
ain’t / It only takes three chords to set the record straight Norwood sings these lyrics on the “I Am Not Cool” title cut, a perfect example of how his economy of
words is quizzical, meta, and puts a smile on your face all at the same time. But, wait, there’s more. Norwood really gets going on the album’s second single “I Need You (To Quit Breaking My Heart),”
which is such a plainly evocative song title that other songwriters should be
shaking a fist in Norwood’s general
direction for thinking of it first. A universal sentiment succinctly stated. “It’s a 10-year marriage kind of love song,” he says
of the tune, and as if to hammer that description home, Norwood’s wife Carrie
joins him on vocals, which adds a whole new level of “what is going on here?!”
to the proceedings. Further on, “Good
Guy With A Gun” will remind listeners of the political rhetoric it
references, but is more tragically tied to the songs from Norwood’s debut album, which dove head-first into his very personal
story of growing up as a child of a father who died by his own hand. “This song is about that,” he explains, “But more than
that it’s about the ridiculous theory that the NRA likes to tout. The only way
to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun? My dad was a good guy
with a gun, so how were we supposed to stop him from killing himself?” Once again, it is astounding how Norwood is able to take such personal matters, write about them
with conviction and clarity, make it catchy and memorable, and make you feel
like you challenged yourself and had a chuckle all at once. Uncool? Hmm. Frankly, Norwood
says that claiming himself “uncool” may be an awful career move. “I’ll either
make it or break it as uncool Chris J
Norwood,” he opines on the topic. But, the thing is, Norwood’s work is righteous no matter how it is perceived by anyone
who makes judgments about “career moves.” This brand of vulnerable, self-effacing
songwriting, salted with a bit of required brainpower... it’s unique. And it’s
here to stay. Maybe the J stands for “justified?” I Am Not Cool, the second album by Chris J
Norwood arrives via State Fair
Records on Aug. 20th,
preceded by the singles “I Am Not Cool”
(May 21st), “I Need You
(To Quit Breaking My Heart)” (June 18th), and “Good Guy With A Gun” (July 23rd). Chris J Norwood is
available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom
at Fanatic for more information. +++ Chris J
Norwood | Links ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE
: STATE FAIR RECORDS +++ Josh Bloom at Fanatic
Promotion | Contact WEBSITE
: FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL
