Sam Salmon and the Grand Manan Bandits - "If I Needed You Now"

By -

Photo by Celeste Hay

Sam Salmon and the Grand Manan Bandits are an alt-country band hailing from New Brunswick, and consist of Motherhood and Keith Hallett. They're set to release their debut album and have just released a new single from it. "If I Needed You Now" does an interesting thing. Alt-country typically either falls in the hokey/tongue-in-cheek camp or the completely earnest side. When "If I Needed You Now" started, I got the feeling that it's being intentionally ironic, but as it goes on, it sounds more and more earnest. It ends up being an alt-country number that leans into the fun side of country music and seems like Sam Salmon and the Grand Manan Bandits truly love the genre.

Singer Brydon Crain says of the band's latest single:

“‘If I Needed You Now’ was one of the first songs written for the Sam Salmon project sometime around 2013, we called it ‘Country No. 1’ until about six months ago. It’s about being in a burning house and wondering if you’ve pushed away everyone who might have come to help you. I was in my early 20s and starting to suspect that I wasn’t very good at relationships. I don’t remember what I was feeling exactly but I remember I was spending a lot of time laying on the floor with the cats.”

You can listen to "If I Needed You Now" below. DOWN FOR LIFE is due out November 21 on Forward Music Group/Big Turnips, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on Sam Salmon and the Grand Manan Bandits, check out the band on Instagram.

On Repeat...

The New Limits - "Normal Day"

By -
Image
Photo via Facebook According to their Bandcamp profile, The New Limits are a "Boston ska band with a taste for rocksteady, reggae, soul, and rock n roll." They just released a single that shows off their sound perfectly. "Normal Day" is a laid back ska song dripping with soul. You know that joke that goes around every few months saying that ska is the sound that plays in a twelve year old's head when they get an extra mozzarella stick? The New Limits are the grown up version of that sound. This is ska/rocksteady for adults. It's ultra chilled out music with some of the best horns in the city. Even if you haven't listened to ska since your youth, you need to check out "Normal Day." This might help re-open the entire genre to you. The New Limits say of their latest single: " What is normal, anyway? Some of us just want a nine-to-five. Others cry at the thought. 'Normal Day' has nothing to do with quarantine and lots to do with figuri...
Read more

Brennen Leigh - "Dumpster Diving"

By -
Image
Photo by Lyza Renee Brennen Leigh has quickly become a favorite of ours, with her take on a classic country sound with a slight sense of humor. Her latest single, "Dumpster Diving," which she describes as a "trashy little tune," is everything we love about the musician. It's a vintage style country song that comes in at a punk like one minute, forty-eight seconds. With a chorus of "Dumpster diving, this ain't gonna last / Dumpster diving, 'cause baby you like trash..." how can you possibly resist. Leigh's latest gives us a decades old sound with modern sensibilities and her fantastic voice that's tailor made for this genre of music. It's almost like a collaboration between Loretta Lynn and Shel Silverstein, and who doesn't want to hear that? You can hear "Dumpster Diving" below. Don't You Ever Give Up On Love  is due out October 3 on Signature Sounds, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Brennen Leigh,...
Read more

The Beths - "Mother, Pray for Me"

By -
Image
Photo by Annabel Kean For their latest single, New Zealand's The Beths have released "Mother, Pray for Me." This is a heartbreaking ballad consisting of Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and guitar with just the slightest hint of organ. It's a deeply personal song for Stokes, made obvious with how intimately the song comes across. It truly feels almost confessional, and it's quite simply beautiful. The Beths are most known for huge little indie rock gems perfect for bopping along to, but "Mother, Pray for Me" is quite the opposite. Stokes' vocals and lyrics are right up front on this one, and I can't imagine it any other way. Elizabeth Stokes says of her latest single: “I cried the whole time writing it. It's not really about my mother, it's about me — what I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is, and what I can or can't expect out of it.   “My mother is a first gen Indonesian immigrant, and very Catholic....
Read more