CloudwatcherUno S9 ~ Episode 1 starts with The Local Honeys who are Linda Jean Stokely and Montana Hobbs. They hail from the misty blue mountains of Kentucky and their music is at once modern but cloaked in the great Appalachian music traditions.
“The Ballad of Frank & Billy Buck” by The Local Honeys
We talk about their last trip to Europe in 2020 just before the world shut down and how it helped them to focus on getting the right sound for their self titled 2022 album ‘The Local Honeys’. their first release on La Honda Records. The Local Honeys captures the essence of rural Kentucky, conjuring old school melodies with deep grooves and haunting instrumentals.
Montana Hobbs and Linda Jean Stokely
Their previous albums “The Gospel” (2019) and “Little Girls Actin’ Like Men (2017) are modern day classics.
“Dead Horses” by The Local Honeys
Enjoy our conversation on the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring The Local Honeys. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
This is the CloudwatcherUno S8 Finale ~ Episode 10 with Jonathan Terrell and it’s a fantastic way to end the current season. JT is the ultimate renaissance artist he’s a cosmic cowboy, singer songwriter, film director, photographer and DJ.
“I Know” by Jonathan Terrell
We talk about his upcoming EP, “A Couple 2, 3,” his singles “Better For You” and “I Know”. His signing with Range Records @range.records Sharing his experiences touring with Midland most recently in Europe. When Jonathan’s not doing a million and one creative things all at the same time he’s finding time to playing golf with @markaroo (lead singer of Midland) and the one and only Arkansas troubadour @dylanearl.music
Photo: Mike Dunn
The EP comes out on September 9th 2022 although the final mix was done in January of this year. JT is excited to get this music out to the world. It’s a big step forward musically from his previous albums “Trails & Stimulation” (2008), “Past The Lights Of Town” (2015) and “Westward” (2020). JT never wants to put out the same album twice and takes inspiration from some of his favourite bands who stayed ahead of the curve and make new sounds to engage the audience.
Photo: CloudwatcherUno
JT is always looking to constantly refresh his music continuously to inspire his music and art and keep it all fresh. JT says that music is his forte and it was only after speaking to another artist who said that he needed to have other artistic endeavours such as photography. So he practised for over 3 years with his camera in hand taking photographs on the road and at his DJ residency. JT’s passion allows his creativity to stretch himself as a artist and musician.
Photo: Neil Perry
We talk about what it means to be a musician in this day and age when singers become Tik Tok famous but it doesn’t translate to the real world of live gigs and touring that traditional artists have gone through as a right of passage into the world of music.
Photo: CloudwatcherUno
JT’s next single release from the EP is “Texas” co-written with Jess Carson from Midland Then JT will be on tour with William Clark Green in September 2022 and will be promoting the EP and the singles out on the road.
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring JT. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Forrest McCurren chats to CloudwatcherUno from the family farm in Missouri where they discuss his nick name ‘Dancing Legs’, shooting the video to his song ‘Little Rock’ the first track of his new album ‘Oh Me, Oh My’, Superman (specifically the 1978 version), how the title of the album came from a saying that his father uses, we also get to meet Forrest’s grandfather who is still working at a timber mill in his nineties.
“Little Rock” by Forrest McCurren
Forrest has a writers sensibility when it comes to his approach to song writing. Each lyric is treated as if it has come to life as the great American novel filled with poignant stories filled with characters whose shortcomings and triumphs make us laugh and nod at our own little quirks.
Photo: Brett Jackson
Music has always been a part of Forrest McCurren’s life. Forrest grew up listening to his grandmother play organ in church, his mother listening to Willie Nelson around the house and in the car, and his father singing ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Stand by Me’ as lullabies.
Forrest with his wife Margaret who sings, plays guitar and drums on the new album.
We talk about his older brother, Matthias, and how his travels across the globe inspired Forrest’s own adventures and how these inspired the songs that have influenced the new album. Matthias introduced Forrest to Springsteen and Townes Van Zandt and to the power of song writing. When Forrest left for college, Matthias gave his younger brother his old guitar and the rest is history as they say.
We talk about how Forrest has grown as a singer songwriter with the help of his wife Margaret who has been hugely influential in the sound of Forrest’s music which has been forged from countless performances at honky tonks, dance halls and clubs. On Friday 24th June 2022 Forrest releases the new single from the album which is also called ‘Oh Me, Oh My‘.
“Oh Me, Oh My” by Forrest McCurren
Forrest has great merch that he will have especially his inspired “Cuss Less, Kiss More” t-shirts designed by Margaret. Also in the summer around August 23rd 2022 the new album will be officially out, although Forrest already has the vinyl in his hand to sell to fans and new listeners alike. Forrest is looking to go back on the open road and play a couple of festivals, near and far across the great state of Missouri.
Forrest McCurren is a lyricist who captures the essence of the human experience. Photo: Byryan Strong
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Forrest McCurren. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Dee White talks with CloudwatcherUno in his first ever podcast so that we can hear his story thus far in the world of country music. We also have a live exclusive acoustic performance of his new song “Little Things” on his 000-28 Martin Guitar.
Dee White ~ A truly sensational, singer, lyricist and guitarist.
After touring with Paul Cauthen earlier on in the year Dee came back to Alabama to chat on the podcast. Our conversation starts right at the beginning when Dee’s father sold an antique to Harold Shedd who had recently moved out to central Alabama from Nashville. Dee (a senior at the time) helped his father deliver the antique and saw all the vinyl and gold records that Harold was unpacking and did what any curious youngster would and googled Harold and found out he was a music man. Little did Dee realise how much of an influence this southern gentleman would have on his life and his career.
“Ol ‘ Muddy River” by Dee White
Harold overheard that Dee played at church and had his guitars restrung and a seed of an idea gets planted in his head. After a few months an old buddy of Harold’s from the music industry visited to see his new place and asked Dee to play out of the blue and Dee travelled with his grandfather to Harold’s place. Once there Harold said to Dee to play any song he liked and Dee sang Hank William’s “Lost Highway“.
Dee White performed “Lost Highway” by Hank Williams for Harold Shedd and the rest as they say is history.
After this initial performance, Harold would continue to validate Dee as a singer and lyricist and encourage him to write as many songs as he could. Then on one snowy morning in Nashville, Harold drove Dee to meet David R. Ferguson at The Sutler Saloon David would later co-produce Dee’s first album Southern Gentleman . After lunch Dee went to Easy Eye Sound and met the legendary producer Dan Auerbach . All of this happened on the same day. Dan asked Dee to play a song which He did an original composition called “Voodoo“. After Dee finished singing all of these music men looked at each other and knew that Dee was the real deal. Not too long after that work began on the “Southern Gentleman” album.
“Road That Goes Both Ways” by Dee White (feat Ashley McBryde)
Dee is now in the studio finishing his sophomore album which has been recorded live so as to capture the most authentic analogue experience. Dee is thrilled to bring new music to fans and is looking forward to touring across the United States and especially across Europe to promote the new album when it comes out.
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Dee White. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Geneviève Racette talks with CloudwatcherUno about her latest album “Satellite” a collection of 9 songs exploring themes of how humans fall in and out of love and finding the courage to do so after heartbreak.
“Satellite” by Geneviève Racette
Québec is the only province in Canada that French is the official language and so being bi-lingual is something that Geneviève has mastered. So much so that she released a purely French album in 2016 “Les Aurores Borèales” The government gives a lot of grants and money to keep the French language alive and protect it from those who speak English.
Geneviève Racette
Geneviève only used to write and sing In French but as a child spoke both languages as her mother wanted her to be able to understand the English language. Geneviève learnt by watching Sesame Street and other kids TV shows and eventually decided to explore this English sensibility that had grown within her to explore different worlds of music.
Geneviève Racette
Song writing for Geneviève begins with words in French and English, and then she will collect them all together to make a finished song. “Satellite” was completely mixed, recorded and produced during the global lockdown. Only in February 2022 did music venues open up again in Québec, it’s been a very long lockdown within Canada.
A whole year was spent exploring new songs, demos and ideas to record these final ideas and then mixed them. Geneviève co produced every note with her Producer sometimes in a studio but mainly from home. Finally after two long years the album was released in March 2022.
Geneviève Racette
Geneviève became friends with Dallas Green from “City and Colour” over Instagram a Canadian musical legend and then sent the demos to Dallas Green and he asked if he could sing on the song “Someone“. Geneviève was over the moon with excitement that her musical hero was going to sing on her song and the album. Geneviève feels proud, joyful and overwhelmed with emotion that her album is now out for the world to hear.
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Geneviève Racette. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Jade Brodie is a Cowboy, Songwriter and Musician. Jade speaks to CloudwatcherUno after travelling from a gig at The Western Folk Life Centre in Elko, Nevada after playing eight or nine songs for a round robin set. We speak about her Magnolia Sessions album from Anti-Corp. We talk about the difference between Jade’s diary songs (more personal songs) rather than her attention grabbing songs. Jade has a big motivation to be up there surrounded by people dancing and bringing them a good time. Jade appreciates the shows where people pay attention to her songs whether they be based on the working man or explore issues of love.
We explore the genesis of “Split My Tooth ” it’s one of Jade’s oldest songs and marks a new development in Jades song writing style.
“Split My Tooth” by Jade Brodie
Free spirited and working hard personalities are fully explored in Jade’s ‘Making History’ video. There’s a fairy godmother character within in the video that is just delightful.
“Making History” by Jade Brodie
Jade has been living independently since a young age and working hard for the railroad. Jade was forced to make a difficult decision when the railroad wanted her to move back to California. Jade was wholly deducated 24/7 working 12 hour shifts for the railroad and songwriting was ushed abck for over three years until she was able to buy herself land to build her own house.
Jade was fortunate enough to get a job on a ranch which has allowed her to ride horses, keep dogs and deal with life on a ranch. Jade enjoys being at peace in Nevada and taking the time for self refection and puts things in perspective as to what matters. Jade has written a lot of new songs while living in Nevada. Jade wrote a new song about her horse, it’s the first song she’s written in a while. Jade grew up in New York and being on a ranch and working within this mountain landscape is a deam come true.
We explore Jade’s tattoos and how they are an expression of her personality and how they are atheistically pleasing. While they are not an indication of who Jade is and people do judge her based solely on these which is fine but Jade earns their respect because of the good job that she does.
We talk about “Travelling Man” the epic Western As Fuck video that she collaborated with. Riddy Arman recommended Jade Brodie for WesternAF and when they came through town they met up and musical history was made. Jade is proud of that song and loved recording this song with them and will also be on the new album. Jade should have finished her album last year but the timing has been pushed off for a year.
“Traveling Man” by Jade Brodie with WesternAF
Jade was half way through her tour in 2020 when the pandemic hit and had to go back home. Jade had to take risks on herself, her music and after 2 years later is getting back to where she wants to be in her career. Having a creative side gives Jade a purpose and loves that her songs can bring people joy and it’s fun to be on stage and enjoy her music for an hour or so. John Curtis is the producer who is helping Jade produce her next studio album. We cannot wait for this to come out next year.
Jade will be playing at a few music festivals out of town and especially excited about people reaching out and asking her to perform based solely on hearing her music.
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Jade Brodie. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Hello and welcome to Season 8 Episode 1 of the Cloudwatcheruno Podcast. We start this season with Izaak Opatz all the way from Missoula, Minnesota. We talk about the weather we are after all based in London. In conversation we discuss Izaak’s new album “Extra Medium” out on Friday 29th April 2022 and the wealth of songs he hasn’t released, his love of music from high school and college which has shaped his musical journey thus far.
“Extra Medium” by Izaak Opatz
Izaak has a love of music but coming late to the world of touring (in his thirties) he has tried to reach a balance between music, writing and living out of a van while touring. Music became a powerful tool for him when he discovered he could create a song and share with friends and family.
“Chinook Wind” by Izaak Opatz
Izaak has gone back to college (he’s studying journalism) and the transition has been tough but he wanted to find stability in his life and engage with new terrains for his brain and his love of wordplay. In his childhood he kept poems and wrote songs and discovered the country genre and enjoyed the ability to create precise storytelling and the metaphors he could employ to create emotion and a connection with the listener.
110 per cent organic Izaak Opatz. Listen to his new album “Extra Medium” out on 29th April 2022.
“Dirt Wave” is Isaak’s take on old country classics and all the fun stuff musically that you get with indie rock. Izaak talks about the beginnings of country music for him and how huge it is all over the world and it’s connection from the narrow cultural associations it has with poor rural white America.
Taking country to where no man has gone before is ‘Astronaut’ Izaak Opatz
Izaak explains that he loves expressing himself in music and has collaborated with friends from Los Angeles especially his friend Dylan Rodrigue and his ability to produce melodies and music out of the chaos that is Izaak’s songwriting. Izaak has been able to connect with audiences over three albums and still finds the passion to write about break up songs, the difference between the city and the country and likes how the structure of his songs have grown and matured to represent an honest mirror for his feelings musically.
So go listen to this beast of an album and also listen to the majesty of Izaak’s trombone playing. It’s a fun pre pandemic album that celebrates life and catch Izaak when he goes touring later in the summer of 22.
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Izaak Opatz. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
When we spoke with David Miner he had just opened up for Charley Crockett, one of the biggest shows that David or anyone in his band had performed at. We talk about David’s three albums so far “The Rules” (2019), “Stand Your Ground” (2020) and “Silver Valley” (2021).
“Silver Valley” by David Miner
David has been playing guitar since he was 10 years old but it wasn’t until recently after playing lots of gigs and the momentum that followed these performances that he realised that he wanted to be a musician and that this was the vocation that he wanted to do.
David Miner is keeping is music Country.
David tries to bring his “A” game to everything that he does whether it be live performances or videos to promote his songs and the band. One of the best songs off the current album is “Too Fast“. David grew up in Washington State with lots of farming communities and in the past 10 to 15 years there has been a lot of big industries coming in and impacting the smaller farming communities and these have become very touristy and kitschy towns to survive and how they are experiencing these changes and what it means to them.
“Too Fast” by David Miner
A deep cut into David’s music is the track “End Of Your Line“. The song came easily to David as more of a journal entry than lyrics that he had crafted. The songs that are directly from David’s life are usually more quicker for him to write. Other songs take more time to ensure that they are historically accurate. Song writing is poetry to David who also prides himself on being able to write good melodies.
“End Of Your Line” by David Miner
Guy Clark has been an inspiration to David for his song writing and it shows in his reverence for the artist and the man in his own lyrical creations. David says that if he could he would change his first two albums as they were recorded out of his bedroom, he played all the instruments and so they lack a diverse range of ideas on how to create the music and the sound that he looks for now in is musical output.
David Miner living life in the moment on stage.
The next album have more of a up-tempo honky tonk sound and the songs for the new record have been honed by countless live performances on the road. The new songs will have a lot more energy than the last three albums. The new songs have been able to cut through a large bar and grab and hold peoples attention. David is enjoying the process of putting in the hard work over the years and seeing it pay off little by little.
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring David Miner. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Sara Jean Kelley sits down with CloudwatcherUno to talk about life, death and everything in-between. We start off our conversation with exploring Sara’s inspiration for one of her fabulous songs “Astronaut” from her EP “The Wild“.
“Astronaut” by Sara Jean Kelley
The song “Astronaut” was written in 2013 and Sara wrote the majority of the song and couldn’t figure out what to do with the last verse and sat on the song for over 3 years. When Sara was about to record “The Wild” and this pushed her into finishing the song. Then Sara sat on the album for 3 years as well until she judged it was the right time to release on the internet.
Sara leans to the macabre in her writing and her songs. One of the songs to listen to on Sara’s new Ep “Black Snake” is “Black Snake” and “Rains In Montana” recounting the singer’s month-long retreat to the mountains of Montana. “The first morning I woke up in my family’s home in Montana, I looked out the window and it was raining. There I was 2,000 miles away from home, trying to escape my sense of loss, and just like it does in Nashville, it was raining in Montana.” Sara wondered why she had travelled so far and nothing had changed.
We talk about relationships, Yellowstone the series and funeral playlists. The whole process of being in a relationships, changing who you are in an atmosphere of compromise and how coming out of that relationship finally enabled her to write and reproduce her stream of consciousness and how Sara was feeling at the time.
Sweetheart Country was definitely the kind of sound that Sara was going for in her first EP “The Waiting Place” and then a more muscular, harder edged rock and roll sound broke through for “The Wild” thanks to Atlanta based producer Kyle Dutton. Following on from the more mature, visceral and haunting sound of her latest EP Sara would like to record a full length album for 2023 with some shows regionally and do some touring.
Watch the video for the title track, “Black Snake,” here.
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Sara Jean Kelley. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
The Wooks—CJ Cain on guitar and vocals, Harry Clark on mandolin and vocals, George Guthrie on banjo and vocals, and Allen Cooke on Dobro—release “Flyin’ High” on Friday 25th February 2022. In an exclusive for Behind The Song we have CJ Cain from The Wooks sing the track “Flying High” solo. The first time that he has performed this track without the rest of the band.
CJ Cain also goes into depth as to the story about the song and and explains the importance of the lyrics and the real life characters who inspired the song and how their lives were weaved into becoming a musical gem. We also talk about the music video for “Flyin High” and how the video has brought the characters to life and thus the song into the field of animation.
The Wooks
Click below to watch the full Behind The Song video from The Wooks on You Tube or listen to it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
CloudwatcherUno PLAY.LISTEN.ENJOY. 