Een dromerige, tedere ode aan hun thuisstaat. Ik denk dat ik de laatste tijd voor dit soort tijdloze stemmen val, alsook voor dit type americana dat een basis in folk heeft. Prachtig hoe ongeveer halfweg een banjo wordt toegevoegd aan de gitaar en strings.
Something from Nothing verschijnt op 3 maart 2023 via Grey Sun Records.
Luister ook naar: Half A Mile
Ter Info
“I’m always down for a love song about a place,” says Steve Varney—better known as Kid Reverie—of his new collaboration with lifelong Carolinian, Chris Williams. Released as a single from their upcoming album together, “Carolina” is just that. “The story starts on the beach in Wilmington. It stretches out to the Smokies and ends on the Outer Banks in Ocracoke’s Silver Creek Harbor…where the sun can be observed setting over its silver waters through the mouth of the harbor,” recalls Williams. “Surely one of my favorite memories.”
Holler premiered the track and boasted about it stating, “‘Carolina’ is so gently life affirming and transcendental it feels like it’s being poured down into the very depths of your soul.” Also adding, “It spirals around, dipping and soaring, a ghostly understated bluegrass spiritual that feels like it’s bleeding through the walls from another universe.”
Williams had a fairly complete layout of the song before ever sending it to Varney, having tracked guitars, strings, vocals, and more, inspired by the state which he calls home. “I love everything about North Carolina,” he says. “There is a comfort in where you were born, where you’ve explored, all the emotions tied to so many stories rooted in that place. In retrospect, I could see so many metaphors and similes relating to how healing and familiar my surroundings were while navigating life in this area.”
Varney immediately recognized the direction in which Williams was heading and the pair sat down and picked the whole arrangement apart. “We slowly worked through each verse, the vocal rhythm, phrasing, choice of words, instruments, leaving nothing untouched,” remembers Williams. “It was shockingly comprehensive and eye opening. I had never dissected a song so thoroughly.” In addition to replacing Williams’ background vocals and adding more layers and percussions tracks, Varney laid down the song’s signature banjo lines. “I loved sitting down with my banjo late at night and playing solos until one clicked,” he recalls. “Even at its loudest, this one always felt so gentle to me,” says Varney. Williams agrees and adds, “The finished product was my most proud musical accomplishment up to that point.”
