As instant gratification becomes the norm and certainty is worn as armor, Sean McConnell is choosing patience and ambiguity––especially when it comes to himself. “I think embracing the blurry lines is a sign of getting older and just having more life experience,” he says. “It can be healthy to break your own boxes.”
Sean is home in Nashville, reflecting on the path he’s taken to recording Secondhand Smoke, his 13th album. A cohesive collection of modern folk music, Secondhand Smoke asks provocative questions about how we become who we are, what and whom we love, and the growth, pain, and freedom that come with accepting that some answers might elude us forever.
Secondhand Smoke is a stunning portrait of that Argus-eyed little boy, all grown up and grappling with what that entails. Recorded and produced by Sean over two months in his home studio, the album is a bona fide musical rarity: a 12-song set given time to marinate in its artist’s often isolated care. Excluding strings and synths, Sean played the instruments on the record. He co-wrote three songs and wrote the rest alone. The result is an intimate look not just at a moment in Sean’s life, but at unhurried creativity’s potential. “It was an amazingly intoxicating experience,” Sean says of the process. “This time around, there was no clock. I could create when the inspiration hit––it could be two or three in the morning. It felt amazing. Total creative freedom. No middle man, no reason for me not to see every thought through to completion.”
Today Glide is excited to premiere the video for “Here We Go”, one of the standout tracks on the album. The song is a breezy nugget of indie folk with a anthemic pop chorus lingers long after listening. There is a simplicity and a timelessness to the song that makes it connect on a universal level and signals that Sean McConnell may be one of the most exciting songwriters in music right now. With its soaring exuberance and earworm folk-rock sound, “Here We Go” has all the makings of a hit.
Sean McConnell shares his own story of how the song came to be:
“I am very taken with, and have spent my life listening for, that voice that speaks to you in the silence. The one that calls you on adventures, that steers you towards your truth, and that reminds you, or at least reminds me, that this universe is so much more than what we can experience with our five senses. I am a firm believer in signs and following them. This is a song about that kind of listening and watching. I believe director Elizabeth Olmstead did a fantastic job capturing this sentiment!”
WATCH:
2019 U.S. Headlining Tour Dates
March 7 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
March 8 – Charlotte, NC – The Evening Muse
March 9 – Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall
March 10 – Charlottesville, VA – The Southern
March 13 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
March 14 – Allston, MA – Great Scott
March 15 – Washington DC – Songbyrd
March 16 – Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle
March 17 – Uncasville, CT – Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun
March 20 – Buffalo, NY – The 9th Ward
March 21 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Tavern
March 22 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark
March 23 – Indianapolis, IN – Hi-Fi
March 24 – Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern
April 4 – Los Angeles, CA – Hotel Cafe
May 2 – Houston, TX – The Rustic
May 3 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
May 4 – New Braunfels, TX – River Road Ice House
May 9 – Birmingham, AL – WorkPlay
May 10 – Atlanta, GA – The Loft
May 11 – Nashville, TN – Basement East
Dates with Needtobreathe:
March 29 – Wichita, KS – Orpheum Theatre
March 30 – Tulsa, OK – Brady Theater
March 31 – College Station, TX – Rudder Auditorium/Texas A&M
April 1 – San Antonio, TX – Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
April 3 – Tucson, AZ – Fox Theatre
April 5 – Santa Barbara, CA – Arlington Theater
April 6 – Las Vegas, NV – Pearl
April 8 – Riverside, CA – Fox Performing Arts Center
April 9 – San Luis Obispo, CA – Fremont Theater
April 10 – Bakersfield, CA – Fox Theater
April 12 – Stockton, CA – Bob Hope Theatre
April 15 – Colorado Springs, CO – Pikes Peak Center
April 16 – Boulder, CO – Macky Auditorium Concert Hall
Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins
