When it came time to begin working on her new album, Gwyneth Moreland turned to her own backyard for inspiration. It was the rugged and beautiful landscape of her Northern California hometown of Mendocino, a place that has long embraced artists. She also turned to the music she grew up listening to – artists like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Billie Holiday, and contemporary folkies like Gillian Welch. The result is her new LP Cider, which comes out March 10th on Blue Rose Music.
With her expressive vocals and reflective lyrics, Moreland balances traditional folk and Americana, and even incorporates jazz influences on occasion. The songs on Cider feel intimate and personal yet they resonate on a more universal emotional level. Today Glide Magazine is presenting a premiere of one of the standout songs on Cider, “Broken Road”. Inspired by Moreland’s native landscape, the song feels like a leisurely walk through the California sunshine, conveying a sense of peace with rich harmonies and acoustic guitar playing.
Moreland offers her own story behind the song:
“At first glance, one might guess that the term ‘Broken Road’ would be an artsy way to describe the symbolic bumpy path of life. But this song, written primarily by my husband Skyler, is about an actual road, a pothole-riddled mud slick that wound through backwoods junkyards and spilled into the dense undergrowth of Jackson State Forest. This was the path of the day, winding its way to a rural bus stop every morning in the dark or leading him home from his first job shoveling slop and manure at a farm owned by a miniature cattle breeder.
When Skyler first wrote this song with a more rock ‘n’ roll style melody, he called it ‘Snake of Light.’ The imagery was so clear to me. It did indeed tell his story, but the muddy, rutted-out roads that carve through the misty trees here in Mendocino County were my childhood stomping grounds as well. At an early age, I too learned how to navigate through the brambly forest. My sister and I set out on many adventures to find the best river spots and hidden waterfalls that lay beyond the yellow forestry gates.
When I put these words to my own melody and helped to craft the chorus, I wanted to create a guitar part that embodied that feeling of carefully placing one soggy foot in front of the other while gazing out ahead into the fog. The only thing that guides you there is the snake of light — the moonlight and starlight that cuts through from above, past the carved-out tree line as it follows the twisting road.”
LISTEN:
Gwyneth Moreland releases Cider on March 10th. For more music and info visit gwynethmoreland.com.
