SONG PREMIERE: Turchi Gets Laid Back With “Pass Me Over”

Two years ago I described the music of Turchi as a “gravelly, snarling voice and swaggering slide guitar playing”, this sound of which the been referred to as “kudzu boogie”. This was music “steeped in the rhythmic dirty grooves of North Mississippi Hill Country blues brought to the world by the likes of Kenny Brown, RL Burnside, Fred McDowell, and even contemporary players like Luther Dickinson.” A lot has changed since then, and now – after four albums – the trio’s front man Reed Turchi is striking out on his own with the mission to preserve his bluesy roots while tapping into something entirely new and different.

On March 4th Reed Turchi will release his debut solo album Speaking In Shadows via his own label Devil Down Records. The album finds the North Carolina musician making a departure from “kudzu boogie” and embarking on a new sound that is both more dynamic and more collaborative in who he is working with. Reed Turchi cites influences “ranging from Randy Newman and JJ Cale, to Beck, T Rex and Tinariwen” and to properly channel those influences he has enlisted a cast of talented musicians and friends, including drummer Paul Taylor and saxophonist Art Edmaiston (Gregg Allman Band), Andrew Trube and Anthony Farrell (Greyhounds), and renowned Italian guitarist Adriano Viterbini. While Turchi’s blues roots stay true, there is also a more progressive, indie rock sound being explored on Speaking In Shadows.

Glide Magazine is excited to premiere a new tune off the album: “Pass Me Over”. Featuring the haunting, savory vocals of Heather Moulder, “Pass Me Over” has a laid back Southern rock groove that’ll make you want to kick back on the porch with a mason jar of bourbon and count the fireflies.

Reflecting on the song, Reed Turchi says, “I rolled ‘Pass Me Over’ around like a stone in the water for a long, long time, with the guitar part coming to me about a year ago right after I totaled my van on the side of a cliff in an ice storm, tree trunk slamming through the engine block.

Singing with Heather Moulder, who is a member of the new band, was a transcendent experience–her voice works beautifully and singing duet-style (a first for me) highlights the king of back-and-forth that’s the essence of the song.

Speaking of the power of a duo, having both Andrew Trube and Anthony Farrell (also known as Greyhounds) play on the track gives it track another dose of magic—you hear the organ and guitar both contributing to the song, but also interacting with each other, as only they can. The smokiness of Paul Taylor’s drum sounds jump out too, the beauty and simplicity of two microphones on the whole kit, recorded direct to tape.

Life is all about relationships, what we say out-loud and what goes unsaid, and so is this song.”

Give a listen to Reed Turchi’s “Pass Me Over”: