SUNSHONE STILL TO RELEASE THIRD ALBUM
ThewaytheworldDies
Critically Acclaimed South Carolina Band Tackles A Tough Loss On New Album
New York, NY – November 10, 2011 – Sunshone Still lead by singer/songwriter Chris Smith have announced they will release their third album: ThewaytheworldDies on February 7th , 2012 on Potato Eater Records. On the band’s forthcoming album, Smith and the group tackle and explore a tough personal loss.
In the fall of 2010, Sunshone Still’s Chris Smith
spent a week alone in the mountains of North Carolina. It was on this
trip, in the streets, coffee shops and pathways of Asheville and
Cashiers; he began to write the songs for the band’s upcoming third
album: ThewaytheworldDies.
It was only a few months prior on July 1st 2010, when Smith lost his only brother to suicide who struggled for years with depression. ThewaytheworldDies searches for resolution in this sobering chronological analysis of his brother’s last years and the aftermath of his death.
In February 2011, after a handful of rehearsals, the band convened at Gastonia, NC’s Old House Studio and recorded the album with chief engineer, Chris Garges. “It was cathartic to return to Gastonia. This is where my brother and I grew up and where we laid him to rest.”
The album begins with “Someone to Call Home.” Baritone guitar and
pedal steel (both performed by Rodney Lanier (Jolene/Sea of Cortez)) set
a David Lynch-style mood for a story about finding new love in a dark,
seedy bar. “After completing basic tracking on “Someone to Call Home”, I
recall getting chill bumps when we sat in the control room. I think
all of us in the room knew, at that very moment, that we were going to
deliver a record people didn’t expect from us. That was a good
feeling.”
ThewaytheworldDies doesn’t settle on being defined by one consistent sound as the band uses several styles of sonic exploration to tell his story.
When asked about why the song and album title are written with no
spacing, Smith responds, “It’s my subtle homage to songwriters like Tom Waits and Sparklehorse, both of whom produced albums titled with no spacing.”
ThewaytheworldDies follows two previously critically acclaimed albums 2005’s Dead Letters and 2007’s Ten Cent American Novels.
Upon the release of their debut album: Dead Letters, No Depression raved about Smith saying: “[He] has a sound that reflects the work of artists such as Tom Waits, Elliott Smith, and Nick Drake.” Of the album it was hailed as an, “impressive debut…a musical landscape painted in the hushed tones of twilight.”
In 2007, inspired by Hampton Sides’ non-fiction book, Blood and Thunder, Chris researched, wrote, and produced an ambitious 17-track, 66-minute concept album titled Ten Cent American Novels. No Depression described the album as “a fascinating, cinematic musical exercise.”
This historical character study centers on Manifest Destiny and the
complex life of Kit Carson: his beautiful Arapaho Indian wife, his
long-heralded trapping and scouting days, his often-heroic military
service, and his ruthless part in rounding up the Navajo Indians for the
fatal Long Walk.
ThewaytheworldDies is an impressive and challenging chapter for Sunshone Still. However, yet again it showcases Smith’s immense talents as a songwriter and storyteller.
Sunshone Still have already scheduled two album release shows:
Feb 10th The Evening Muse, Charlotte, NC
Feb 11th New Brookland Tavern, Columbia, SC
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