The Reverend Shawn Amos never knows when to quit- and that’s a good thing for listeners, as he returns with a new ripe single “Counting Down The Days.” The single is assisted by a band of legit titans that includes drummer Brady Blade (Dave Matthews, Indigo Girls), bassist Christopher Thomas (Norah Jones, Carly Simon, Macy Gray) and longtime Rev guitarist Chris “Doctor” Roberts.
Since 2018’s acclaimed, politically charged Breaks it Down, the Rev has been on the road nonstop. 2019 saw him alighting in Texas, where the South begins, the West ends, and something else is taking shape – a world away, geographically and culturally, from his native LA. Here, he gathered together the Brotherhood, creating a sense of home in his rootlessness. Blade, Thomas, and Roberts provide not only musical, but also spiritual and emotional support for embracing new territory, artistically and otherwise.
“All I’m doing is singing and playing harp,” the Rev says. “I couldn’t imagine making this music with people who are not friends.”
Unlike past Shawn Amos collaborations with Matthew Sweet and Solomon Burke, the Brotherhood is in it for the long haul. “Everybody feels pride of ownership,” the Rev says of Blue Sky. The band has already hit the road and will tour through 2020.
“These songs are really special to Shawn,” says Brady Blade, who previously hosted the Rev’s debut album at his Shreveport studio, and laid down drums. “It’s up to us whether we’re ready to jump in and contribute 150%. If we’re not, it’s not a brotherhood.”
The material showcases Shawn Amos’s songwriting like no previous Rev outing; here furious, there vulnerable; here gadabout and crazy, there forlorn and tender; all buoyed by musicians emboldening a beloved family member.
Glide is proud to premiere “Counting Down The Days” – a blackened riff howl of workmanship blues and Texas boogie that never surrenders. The Reverend Shawn Amos enlists an old school approach to tape that remains relevant and raw.
“Counting Down The Days” — it’s a uniquely American proposition that we can always reinvent ourselves. It’s that place where optimism, self-delusion, and bravado all meet. “I swore I would not be angry/Not this time.” Tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow never knows. Always searching,” adds Amos,
