Be sure to "Like" Ear to the Ground on Facebook!
In the Fall of 2014, in the early days of a new chapter in my life, I got the opportunity to preview and review a new album by the Grey A - a band from Washington D.C. How that came about is one of those weird connection stories that seems to follow this blog and me around. Howard Rabach who was truly one of the first (if not the first) readers of Eat to the Ground contacted me to let me know that he had joined a new band, and that the band was about to put out an album.
To make the weird connections even weirder, My Country - the debut album by the Grey A was recorded just a few miles away from where I grew up and featured many Nashville-area musicians. I gladly agreed to review the album - even though I had only written a few album reviews.
My review appeared on this site and on No Depression on September 1, 2014. Since that time, the Grey A have expanded to a powerhouse four-piece and are poised to release the third single from My Country, "Unusual As Usual" b/w "Until They Find Us". The single features cover art by Maryland Visual Artist Chuck Rounds which was based upon a nude photograph of Grey Jacks - the mastermind behind the Grey A.
Here is how I described the song, when I reviewed the album: "Unusual as Usual" - Begins with thunderous bass/guitar line that runs counter to the previous tracks. This track’s insistent intensity drives a strong-minded message that seems to suggest blending in as a way of making real change from within a twisted and broken system. It's about playing a part -- with eyes wide open to the lies being told to our faces and the theft going on right underneath our noses. Hidden in plain sight, as it were, by the blandness and ordinariness of it all. Truthfully, I don’t know if I completely understand this song, but I got something out of it. And, as with the rest of the album so far, it is so infectious and enjoyable, it’s like a really great teacher who imparts wisdom in an engaging way, and you listen, you soak it in, and you trust that even if every meaning and truth is not clear today, it’s all going in to be processed later, as you go on through your life.
In conjunction with the single release, the band are also releasing their second full-length video.
The video, which like the first video, "Dumb Fool" features the band members, was filmed in the Washington D.C. restaurant, Comet Ping Pong. Which is also where the band will be celebrating the release of the single and video on April 20 with special guests, Joey Kneiser and Kelly Smith (of Grey Jacks old band Glossary) and Austin Lucas. Kneiser recently released, The Wildness, and Lucas is touring in support of his just released Between the Moon and the Midwest. This will be a show that you do not want to miss.
The Facebook Event Info is HERE
The single is out now - head to the band's website for more info.
Well done thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete