Ryan Dart – “If Love Don’t Break You”
-This is a wonderful track with just the right amount of sentimentality to make it soar. The lyrics are about how love songs can feel really good if its for or about you, but it can also feel pretty terrible if you’re left out of the story. The layered steel guitar, vocals, and overall vibe reminds me of a band like Wilco. The whole energy of the performance is quintessential alt country and I’m absolutely thrilled to be supporting this type of music. There’s also something just richly genuine about this performance from the tone of the strings to the rolling rhythmic style that feels right. In a world with so many false pretenses, give me this authenticity all the live long day.
Chloe-Beth – “I Notice”
-This song is a little bit on the demanding side… and that’s perfectly ok. It’s an expression of desire. If you’ve ever been frustrated because you couldn’t be with the person you love, this track will definitely resonate. I appreciate the raw electric guitar style and expressive vocals. The style fits clearly with modern Americana with a gruff, genuine style. This is not a performance for the sake of putting on airs; this is an expression of desire that aches through on literally every line of the track. If you like to hear passion in the music that you consume, definitely click play on this one. Chloe-Beth clearly pulled no punches in the writing and performance of this fantastic alt country tune.
Two Runner – “Strawberry Rhinestone”
-When I first clicked play on this one, I was wondering if it was “Americana enough” for our typical curation… and boy howdy is it ever! This is a rollicking tune that feels like an alchemy of mid-century country music. There’s some toe-tapping that would make Bob Wills proud, all along a clearly expressive acoustic-driven narrative that would put a smile on Marty Robbins’ face. The combination ends up being a sound that is simultaneously modern as well, with a production style that is as clear as a mountain stream. I love the way the fiddle dances over the break while the rhythm section holds the verses together. It’s all an amazing foundation for a vocal the puts me in mind of Andrea Von Kampen if she decided to a honkytonk. There’s something about that slight yodel on “dream of a palomino” that gets me every time. This is a fantastic track and one that I’ll be personally spinning a great deal this summer.
Image courtesy: Two Runner IG
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