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Avalon Ave.

A modern songwriter inspired by the swampy grit, juke-joint swagger, and countrified twang of old-school American roots music, King Corduroy has been chasing his singular muse for years, making his own kind of “cosmic southern soul music” along the way. It’s a sound anchored by a genuine reverence for the good stuff — including Texas electric blues, Memphis soul, New Orleans voodoo funk, the Tulsa groove and Mississippi Delta blues — and updated to suit the unique experience of a storyteller, multi-instrumentalist, wandering troubadour, and larger-than-life frontman who’s lived everywhere from the Bible Belt to the Mexican Baja. Those travels play a central role on King Corduroy’s fourth release, Avalon Ave., whose five songs match King Corduroy’s colorful appearance — equal parts 1970s-era Leon Russell, Southern rock bluesman, and hippie mystic — with soulful performances and real-life stories sourced from his own rambles.

“It’s all about storytelling,” explains the musician, who was raised in Montgomery, Alabama, before logging time in cities like Austin, Los Angeles, Todos Santos, and Nashville. “I go around, I see stuff, and then I report it by telling these stories. There are different types of troubadours who have carried that tradition. Ernest Tubb was The Texas Troubadour. Woody Guthrie was The Dustbowl Troubadour. I’m a cosmic troubadour — The Cosmic Troubadour of Southern Soul.”

Avalon Ave. was largely recorded at the iconic FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Jerry Reed, Band of Horses, and Jason Isbell all tracked some of their most enduring work. An Alabama native himself, Corduroy already had several ties to the studio and its legendary client list. His 2014 EP, Livin’ on Nashville Time, was engineered by Jerry Reed’s former guitarist, Mark Thornton, and recorded alongside members of the late country star’s band, while his 2018 release, L.A. Skyline, was co-engineered by former Lucinda Williams drummer Dave Raven and former Band of Horses bassist Bill Reynolds. Avalon Ave. helped bring those connections full circle, with King Corduroy tapping Jimbo Hart — longtime bassist for Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit — as the project’s producer. Hart brought along Isbell bandmates drummer Chad Gamble and Derry deBorja on accordion and Moog, St. Paul & The Broken Bones organist Al Gamble, Muscle Shoals session regulars Barry Billings on acoustic guitar and NC Thurman on Wurlitzer and piano for the recording sessions, rounding out a studio band that also included a multi-piece horn section, three R&B backup singers, two string arrangements by Dayna Bee, and lead guitarist/slide disciple Kaleb “Junior” Patterson; who teamed up with Corduroy after sharing a bill at the now defunct Americana oasis The Piano Bar in Hollywood. The result is a record stocked with blasts of brass, electric guitar, layers of gospel harmonies, swirling organ, honking harmonica, and the swaggering southern drawl of King Corduroy’s voice.

“These songs are a collection of true stories,” he explains. The worldly kickoff track “Everyone Has to Love” urges its listener to live in the moment, catalyzed by a conversation with a globe-trotting vagabond during King Corduroy’s first four-month stay in the Baja Peninsula, while the album-closing “Emerald Triangle Blues” was inspired by the tales of an employer during his seasonal work trimming leaves and harvesting crops in Northern California’s marijuana fields. During the funky, Stax-sized “Shamrock Inn,” Corduroy tells the story of a tenant at the seedy East Hollywood rehearsal space where he briefly lived during his first months in Los Angeles. And with “Workin’ for a Livin’,” he delivers “a universal message about doing whatever it takes to get by — to keep the tires on the trailer and keep moving.”

King Corduroy has built a colorful career upon his dedication to do whatever it takes to get by. Back in 2014 — the same year he recorded Livin’ on Nashville Time, and one year after the release of his full-length debut, Austin Soul Stew — he attended the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival as a fan, procured a pair of artist passes, and talked his way onstage, where he ripped a harmonica solo alongside fellow performers Dierks Bentley, Ed Helms, and Brent Mason. “I 100% believe you can manifest things,” he says, attributing the “cosmic” portion of his self-described cosmic southern soul to a willingness to tune into the cosmos.

Years later, he’s still building that bridge between his organic sound — a rootsy gumbo of sounds sourced from the American South — and a more spiritual realm. Inspired by personal experiences and the storybook-worthy characters who’ve filled King Corduroy’s adult life, Avalon Ave. is his finest work to date: a collection of songs that are every bit as colorful and genuine as their creator.

“A little Dr. John, a little Leon Russell and a lot of cosmic country cool.” – NPR Music

“Soulful… like a young Leon Russell.” – Billboard

“Bluesy, genre-melding tune.” –The Boot

“A mantra for purposeful living — and working.” – Wide Open Country

“A modern songwriter inspired by the swampy grit, juke-joint swagger, and countrified twang of old-school American roots music.” – Glide Magazine

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Patterns

When Josh Rennie-Hynes moved to Nashville last year, he wasn’t just leaving behind his Australian homeland, he was leaving behind the country where he’d kicked off his solo career with two acclaimed albums, before finding an international audience as one half of The Ahern Brothers. A folk duo, whose harmony-heavy, self-titled debut album earned a four-star review from Rolling Stone, Josh and partner Steve Grady quickly garnered comparisons to Simon and Garfunkel, The Everley Brothers and the Milk Carton Kids. They became an in-demand touring act and the two could have easily ridden their wave of success even higher. But, instead, Josh decided he was looking for a change — not only in musical direction but in location, too. “When I moved to Nashville, I think I knew one or two people. It was all quite unknown to me but that’s what I loved about it. Artistically and personally, I was ready for something new.”

With help from the Australian Council for the Arts, who awarded Josh with the Nashville Songwriters Residency grant, he packed up his life and headed to Music City. There, Josh found a place that differed greatly from the rural, small-town farmland of his childhood. Inspired, he got to work, immersing himself in the city’s musical culture while steadily piecing together a full band. After years of solo gigs and duo shows, he was ready for a much bigger sound. Moving into the close-knit East Nashville community, he found himself energized by the genre-hopping music scene and the multitude of shows happening every night.  “I’d check out shows constantly, then I’d wake up every morning and play my guitar, and something always seemed to come through. Songs started piecing themselves together, and eventually, I had enough to start putting together the record and figuring out who I wanted to play on it with me.” 

With an album’s worth of songs written and his recording band assembled, he headed to Nashville’s world-famous Sound Emporium studios. 2019’s Patterns marks Josh Rennie-Hynes’ most indie rock-oriented album to date. There are layers of electric guitar, swirling keys, and pounding percussion, all wrapped around a voice that swoons and swaggers in equal measure. Raised in a musical household filled with rock & roll records, country classics, and harmony-heavy staples, Josh draws a line between his past and present, nodding to his influences while pushing forward into a modern and bold territory. 

Produced by guitarist Alex Munoz (Margo Price, Nikki Lane), Patterns also features performances from drummer Allen Jones (Lilly Hiatt, Will Hoge), bassist Christopher Griffiths (Will Hoge), keyboardist Micah Hulscher (Margo Price), and a duet with Americana sensation Erin Rae. The group tracked each song to analog tape, focusing on live takes and inspired performances. Within three days, Patterns was finished. The result is an album that’s both electrifying and immediate, from the crashing, minor-key melancholia of “Standing Still” to the warm, stripped-down acoustics of the album’s folky closer, “Home to You.” Along the way, Josh recounts LSD trips (“Stay”), weighs the cost of chasing one’s ambitions (“Caught in a Dream”), and races against the clock (“Borrowing Time”), telling the story not only of the modern world but of his place within it. 

In his short time in the US, Josh has already been covered by Paste, Wide Open Country, MXDWN, and had a full layout feature in last fall’s No Depression print issue, not to mention NPR’s Bob Boilen showed up for one of his Americanafest sets. With 2019’s Patterns, he makes a compelling case for taking the road less traveled. Whatever genre you’d like to call it, this is music at its most engaging, written by an artist whose travels, heartbreaks, trials, and triumphs have molded his sound into unique shapes. These Patterns are all his own.

“Leading with yearning, guitar tones that are instantly redolent of the song’s philosophical nature, the artist sells it with its wishful chorus, sifting through the ebb and flow that our lives all inherently produce.” –PopMatters

“Chock full of tight progressions, emulsive emotions, lyrical poetry, and beautifully expressive vocal attentions by Josh.” – Comeherefloyd

“This is straight-up Americana songwriting, with Rennie-Hynes voice accompanied by a cracking band!” – Timber & Steel

“A voice that swoons and swaggers in equal measure…Melds the narrative lyrical style of Josh Ritter and Gillian Welch’s knack for lonesome prairie harmonies.” – Glide Magazine

“Rennie-Hynes writes such clear and refreshing blues music.”- Ear to the Ground

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Shawn Colvin – Steady On (September 13)

Over the last few decades, Americana has evolved to encompass a myriad of sounds rooted in folk, country, blues, gospel, and rock & roll. And while fans and critics may never agree on exactly how to define it, one thing is certain: It’s a sound borne of our need to express all the hurt and joy bursting from our hearts. Three-time Grammy winner Shawn Colvin stopped the industry in its tracks with her arresting 1989 debut, Steady On. The following spring, Colvin took home the GRAMMY for Best Contemporary Folk Album, legitimizing a burgeoning genre that’s grown ever stronger and richer with time. As the record’s 30th anniversary looms, the trailblazing singer and songwriter readies a truly mesmerizing acoustic reinvention of her breakthrough release, lacing up each track with fresh layers of warmth, charm, and wisdom.

With her wistful revisitation of these well-traveled songs, Colvin’s lyrics come into sharp focus. “You can cry like an angel when there are no words,” she sings, offering an outstretched hand that is at once steady and comforting.“Shotgun Down the Avalanche” intermingles melancholy with the resignation of a failed romance, her world-weary voice nearly whispering the sorrow of being taken down by a broken relationship. “The Story” thumps along the dusty highway of life, telling the “story” about her upbringing and place in the family, written as a talk with her sister—each experience cherished as a badge of honor. 

“I was 32 years old, and the dream of my life had been fulfilled,” Colvin says, “not only because I made an album but mostly because I had written or co-written every song, an accomplishment that was hard won. I was so proud. My feeling was then—and still is—that if I never made another album, Steady On would have been enough.” 

Colvin is humble when discussing her work, while fully aware of the inspiration her legacy has provided to/for countless aspiring artists in the years since her debut. The newly-recorded version of Steady On strips each song to the core, placing Colvin’s songwriting masterclass on full display. “I’ve played these songs countless times, primarily as a solo acoustic artist,” she says. “All in all, this is the incarnation that feels most genuine. This represents who I am as an artist and all I ever wanted to be, and I believe it does its predecessor proud.” 

Able to dissect her own work with a sharper scalpel, entries such as “The Dead of the Night” and “Diamond in the Rough” emerge as exemplary, authentic jewels of Americana. Her voice glides across her gritty melodies with a delicate, at-times towering flourish, as she views these time-tested songs through the lens of her current world. As she tells it, her day-to-day in 2019 is spent training for triathlons, catching up on episodes of Project Runway (she’s an avid seamstress), and seeing as many movies as possible. Of course, touring remains her bread and butter, and her time on the open road has allowed her songs to soar.

Now with her daughter of college age and off at school, Colvin has entered a new phase of life that allows freedom to explore. And this involves seeking out more contemporary sounds (often recommended by her daughter), including favorites Beyonce and Frank Ocean. “I describe Frank as Stevie Wonder on another planet,” Colvin says. “He’s deep musically, lyrically and vocally—he takes me somewhere.” 

In keeping with the times, Colvin has also acclimated to current social-media trends, turning her attention to mastering Instagram, and also participating in the larger online conversation about women in the country and Americana scenes. She recalls confronting many of the same issues when she was a young artist. “Even with Lilith Fair and the onslaught of female singer-songwriters and musicians, it was verboten to play two female artists back to back on the radio. The programmers were like, ‘We can’t do this.’

“I’m grateful for the Grammy accolades, but there was one year when a lot of other women were nominated for top awards and the way they dealt with it was to put us on stage at the same time and have us each do 45 seconds of each of our songs. I felt like it was a pageant, like I should be wearing a sash. You can’t help but wonder—would it have been the same approach had it been a bunch of men?”  

Over the course of three decades, Colvin has established herself as a heritage artist by creating a remarkable canon of work, touring relentlessly both nationally and internationally, and having her songs featured in television and film. She is a revered storyteller deserving of the special recognition of both her peers and those who have been inspired by her songs. The reworking of her iconic debut feels not only timely but essential, further underscoring that Colvin remains a vital voice for women in music and reaffirming her status as an Americana gamechanger.    

The acoustic anniversary edition of Steady On was recorded at Austin’s Arlyn Studios with head engineer Jacob Sciba (Steve Earle, Dierks Bentley, Willie Nelson), mixed by Simon Tassano and mastered by Emily Lazar. The adventure of this stripped-down set lies in its new color palette. Organic and rootsy, Colvin’s voice ripples with edgy maturity, allowing her to excavate deeper meaning from songs she’s played for decades. It’s a captivating listen—distilling the kind of introspective, emotionally honest and deeply moving music Colvin created with the original Steady On.  

Three-time GRAMMY Award winner, including 1991’s Best Contemporary Folk Album for Steady On.

“Steady On earned rave reviews and won the Grammy for best contemporary folk album. The album’s success set Colvin on a path that’s included another eleven studio albums, two more Grammys and collaborations and guest appearances with Steve Earle, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Bela Fleck, among others.” – Billboard

“Extraordinary songs, mesmerizing guitar playing, and a voice that goes effortlessly from bruise-tender to scar-hard in a matter of minutes.” – The Guardian 

“Shawn Colvin is a solo-acoustic performer of stratospheric skill.” – No Depression