VIDEO PREMIERE: King Cardinal Summons a Golden Great Via “Trouble” Off Debut LP ‘Great Lakes’ (9/29)

I moved to Denver on a whim,” says King Cardinal founder Brennan Mackey. “I’d been living in Chicago, working a finance job that I didn’t love, and I knew exactly what the rest of my life would look like if I stayed there. I decided I wanted to throw everything up in the air and see where it landed.”

It makes sense, then, that the cover of King Cardinal’s stellar debut album, Great Lakes (out 9/29), depicts a man catapulting himself headlong into the unknown, trading safety and security for adventure and excitement as he leaps over a protective railing. If the record is any indication, Mackey’s own bold leaps have paid off in spades. Pushing raw roots rock into lush, sonically daring territory with hints of cosmic country and delicate folk, ‘Great Lakes’ showcases the five-piece group’s exceptional musicianship and the powerful emotional depth of the vocal interplay between Mackey and fellow singer Texanna Dennie.

In its earliest form, though, King Cardinal was a far lonelier enterprise. Ever a self-starter, Mackey adopted the King Cardinal moniker to record his self-titled first EP as a mostly-solo project, and after relocating to Denver, built up a fanbase using Reddit to crowdsource a network of house concerts.Those early songs were sparse, acoustic, and poetic, inspired by the likes of Steve Earle and Ryan Adams, and they earned Mackey an invitation to perform at the prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival alongside stars like Punch Brothers, Brett Dennen, Lake Street Dive, and more. Perhaps most importantly, though, the music attracted a crew of kindred musical souls who would go on to help Mackey flesh out King Cardinal’s follow-up EP, Once A Giant, into a full band affair.

Mackey also found that with a steady lineup, King Cardinal’s songs could evolve in new and exciting ways. When it came time to record ‘Great Lakes,’ Mackey took yet another leap of faith and sent the band’s music to GRAMMY-winning producer and engineer Ted Young (Israel Nash, Banditos). Young fell for the songs immediately and invited King Cardinal down to Texas to record at the famed Sonic Ranch studio, which has played host to everyone from Conor Oberst and Karen O to the Black Angels and Beach House.

Where King Cardinal’s previous, homemade EPs took roughly a year each to track and mix, ‘Great Lakes’ was recorded in a brisk seven days. Consisting primarily of live performances captured without embellishment or ornamentation, the album is direct, raw, and loose, with a palpable sense of camaraderie and musical kinship.

Glide is honored to be premiering the official music video for “Trouble” (below) which documents the band recording at Sonic Ranch Studio in Texas with producer Ted Young. The song is both melodic and rugged, showing King Cardinal’s tenacious approach to recording/songwriting that carefully molds the dark and the light. In a crowded Americana scene, King Cardinal stands out with its righteous melodies and stunning musicianship.

“The song is about longing for the unknown and the need to take risks,” says Mackey about “Trouble”. “We could have made the record in our living room like previous records, but instead decided to put in all on the line. We thought a video using footage of the work we put in would be appropriate for this tune. We picked Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, TX because it was so far from our day-to-day lives. There were no distractions. Nothing for us to do but focus on the music. Being in spaces where some of our favorite musicians recorded, and working with a producer who has worked on some of our favorite records, was surreal. There’s a water tower out on the pecan farm that Sonic Ranch is located on and Beach House utilized it to get the vocal reverb effects on their albumBloom. On the last day, we climbed into the tower and recorded a song. It was an unreal experience.”

Top photo by Scott McCormick

 

 

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