Glide Magazine

Charlie Overbey may be a lifelong Californian, but his songs are steeped in the timeless traditions of the American South. After years of touring the world supporting acts ranging from David Allan Coe and Blackberry Smoke to Social Distortion and Motorhead, Overbey slowly amassed a collection of introspective original songs that transcend the endless rock & roll party, taking a stark, undeniably honest look at some of life’s most gritty moments. The result is Charlie Overbey’s new LP, Broken Arrow.

A triumphant collection of road-hardened alt-country tunes born of Overbey’s upbringing in what he calls “the school and church of Johnny Cash,” Broken Arrow features guest appearances from The Mastersons (who also play in Steve Earle’s band The Dukes), Miranda Lee Richards (who sings on duet single “Slip Away”) and Eddie Spaghetti of the Supersuckers, and was produced by Ted Hutt who recently won a Grammy for his work with Old Crow Medicine Show, and has helmed multiple albums by Lucero, The Gaslight Anthem, Dropkick Murphys and many more.

“I’ve never worked with anybody like Ted,” Overbey says, reflecting on the sessions. “This is the first time I’ve ever let go and trusted somebody else as a partner in my songs. He really pulled some stuff out of me that I had not planned on delivering. Honestly, these songs can be hard for me to sing—they come from a deep, real and sometimes dark place.”

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Ventura Skies is an unexpected return from a songwriter who just a few years ago thought he might never make another album again. But a romantic breakup and the death of his father to cancer coaxed music out of Noah Lamberth as he dealt with the loss & hurt. “The best way to deal with the pain is to verbalize it. But for me that comes out in song. It’s kind of like therapy. The songs started pouring out of me.”

The music was a natural extension from his California Country-styled band, Hank Floyd. That was the group that Lamberth had founded in the early-2000s. Though the act opened up for such artists like Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, and Tim McGraw, they missed the commercial brass ring. (One major label in Nashville said they were too ahead of their time and wouldn’t know how to market them.)

Hank Floyd was a proving ground and a working lab to write songs and sing on the road. But when it ended, Lamberth thought that might be it for music. Working on several documentaries and traveling the country shooting TV shows, Lamberth seemed content to pursue a new calling via a new medium. But as he wrote songs on the road or from his home in Los Angeles, he began to share them with his music friends. One particular colleague, musician and producer Andy Davis, was excited about the new inspiration and convinced Lamberth to record an album. The sound had evolved some and Noah and Andy jokingly called the style a fusion of Mexican/surf/country. But these new songs were no joke, and they captured the yearning desire of an artist inspired with a second chance.

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With his new debut, Collecting Trip (due out on January 19, 2018), R. Finn has created a heartfelt album rooted in timeless Americana and colored by subtly lush, alternately haunting and hopeful arrangements. The Southern California songwriter took the long way around on this journey, some of his songs on the record tracing back nearly a decade.

The LP’s title not only references the “collecting trips” taken by folk musicologists John and Alan Lomax, but also what the album represents to Finn: All the years of accumulating songs, players, styles and gear that have resulted in his affecting, long-evolving sound. And then there’s his deep devotion as a student of songwriting and music history. “I’m just trying to do what I love and what I listen to,” Finn says. “I’m always trying to evoke Ray Charles or Woody Guthrie.”

While the story of Collecting Trip begins and ends in Los Angeles, it’s also anchored by a pivotal journey to rock & roll landmark Woodstock, N.Y., where Bob Dylan and The Band holed up at a house called Big Pink in the late ‘60s, cranking out some of the era’s most iconic songs from a dusty basement studio. Finn found a connection to this bygone era in his early 20s when he crossed paths with The Band’s Levon Helm. He’d heard Helm was living on a farm in Woodstock with a studio out back and no gear, and Finn just so happened to have a bunch of gear and no studio. Finn gathered up the nerve to cold call the legendary drummer/vocalist, the two hit it off immediately, and Helm invited him out to the farm. After Finn spent a night recording Helm, Levon was so impressed he asked him to stick around a while longer. Finn wound up staying for two years.

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Baby Robot Media is a music publicity and media service agency with employees in Los Angeles, Memphis, Atlanta & New York and represent musicians from all over the world. We specialize in promotional ( PR ) campaigns for albums, singles and videos, tour press, radio, music video production, music marketing, social media campaigns, Spotify campaigns and creating promotional content. Our mission is to help great unknown bands reach a wider audience and to help already successful artists manage their brand identity and continue to thrive. Our music publicists have over 50 years of combined experience in the music industry. We are known as one of the best in the business.

Jamie McLean is a triple threat. As a guitarist for New Orleans royalty Aaron Neville and Dirty Dozen Brass Band, he’s toured the globe playing fiery guitar everywhere from Madison Square Garden to Japan’s Fuji Rock. His blue eyed southern soul vocals ooze raw emotion and his top-of-the-line songwriting chops bring everything together. With hundreds of original compositions to his name McLean creates a musical gumbo that incorporates New Orleans soul, Delta blues, middle America roots and New York City swagger.

On February 23rd, 2018 the Jamie McLean Band, which also features Brian Griffin on drums and Ben Mars on bass, is gearing up to release their long awaited new album One and Only. Recorded at the famed Sound Emporium studios in Nashville, One and Only captures the band’s strongest songwriting to date. The album was produced by Ken Coomer of Wilco and features special guests Sam Bush and Jeff Coffin of Dave Matthews Band.

Today Glide is excited to premiere the album’s title track. From the opening riffs and verses, it’s clear Jamie McLean finds a major influence in Tom Petty. It helps that, like Petty, he seems to have one of the tightest bands in rock music. The song has that straightforward, no frills American guitar rock sound that is increasingly hard to find in today’s music. The twangy flourish of a steel guitar, soaring harmonies and catchy chorus, not to mention McLean’s heartfelt songwriting, also bring to mind Americana and alt-country favorites like Jason Isbell, Whiskeytown, and the Jayhawks. If “One and Only” is any indication of the rest of the album, then there’s no doubt the Jamie McLean Band have successfully captured the explosive magic of their live shows in the studio.

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Baby Robot Media is a music publicity and media service agency with employees in Los Angeles, Memphis, Atlanta & New York and represent musicians from all over the world. We specialize in promotional ( PR ) campaigns for albums, singles and videos, tour press, radio, music video production, music marketing, social media campaigns, Spotify campaigns and creating promotional content. Our mission is to help great unknown bands reach a wider audience and to help already successful artists manage their brand identity and continue to thrive. Our music publicists have over 50 years of combined experience in the music industry. We are known as one of the best in the business.