Americana music is a big tent, but real ones know there was a time when it was called “alt-country” and it was the blissful union of country music and garage punk. Greensboro, NC’s Old Heavy Hands knows this, and on their latest performance video, we can see the band’s softer side.
While Old Heavy Hands has perfected the art of fist-pumping country rockers (fully on display in their upcoming album Small Fires,) the band’s performance here shows us the soulfulness with which they approach their music. On this slow jam, each musician deeply feels their performance, the kind of musicianship that makes everything the band does feel magnified and immediate.
“Shelter Me” captures the heartache and feeling of futility in an uncaring and unforgiving world. It was written in response to the injustices that caused the deaths of folks like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The request for shelter, safety and justice is brought to bear through lines like, “Can’t shake the situation/ Pointing cameras at the proof / We can’t breathe or sleep at night / With those devils on the loose.”
Small Fires will be out on January 19th
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