Americana Highways brings you this premiere of Diane Hubka and the Sun Canyon Band’s song “Home,” from their forthcoming album You Never Can Tell, due to be released on January 28. The song will be released on December 8. “Home” is Diane Hubka on vocals and rhythm guitar; Rick Mayock on guitar; and Joe Caccavo on bass. Rolling hills, faces, “and I wanna go home” are all hallmark images of Diane’s introspective folk style. Her songwriting will soothe and calm your wayward jitters.
Today’s Song of the Day is “On the Sparrow” from Lazerbeak’s album, Lava Bangers II, out now.
Begin your day with this uplifting new song from husband and wife folk-duo Raveis Kole. The main take-away from ‘So Nice’ is the simple joy Laurie Raveis and Dennis Kole take in one another’s company and in performing together. The chorus melody and harmonies soar, lifting the we listeners and bringing light into our days. In the video, the couple play and sing, walk and drink, with genuine smiles on their faces; such delight is both refreshing and welcome in challenging times. Indeed, the song was inspired by the collective, joyous experience of playing to an appreciative crowd after pandemic restrictions were lifted. the audience were thankful as Raveis sang and this reflected in the lines: “So nice to be right here // Hanging out with friends old and new..Right now can you feel the wind’s at your back // Take a deep breath, relish this moment.” The sentiment is simple and direct and all the more powerful for that. Sonically and thematically, ‘So Nice’ feels free. Kole considers the song’s meaning: “I couldn’t help but reflect on the simplicities of life unfolding, that sense of expanded joy because people hadn’t been able to participate fully in life and were almost glowing with excitement to be out, to be together, enjoying live music.” Further exclusive reflections from Laurie Raveis and Dennis Kole about the song are below; huge thanks to them for their thoughtful comments and insight.
Heartland Canadian indie rockers The Sarandons deliver defiant optimism on their debut full-length album Sightlines, a rich body of work replete with spirited rhythms, lustrous synths, punctuated guitars and delightfully rugged vocal harmonies, produced by Dan Hosh (Wild Rivers, City and Colour, Glorious Sons) at Double Car Recording and Trench Recordings in Toronto. The Sarandons have shared stages with Dakota Mill, Mattie Leon, Julie Title and more.
A deep reflection on how the Brooklyn, New York-based singer and songwriter reached sobriety, “Old Wooden Floor” is a frank outpouring of the despair and survival of that moment in time, and one of the shared stories and narratives from Check’s own life that plays out on his second album, Without a Throne.
Check’s book of songs is getting more revelatory as time goes on. Scanning personal and peripheral stories and even the biblical with the old testament tale of King David’s son in “What a Father Would Do (Absalom),” Without a Throne cracks open a time capsule of long-forgotten songs in waiting, some for decades.
