ALBUM PREMIERE: Shovelin Stone Let Bluegrass-folk Songs Shine on ‘Summer Honey’

Shovelin Stone’s new album Summer Honey is an eleven-track bluegrass-folk soundtrack to the summer. Based in Denver with roots in the Colorado Rockies, Makenzie Willox (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica ) Zak Thrall (banjo, guitar, vocals), Russick Smith (bass, cello, mandolin), and Brett Throgmorton (drums) recorded Summer Honey in Greenville West Virginia deep in the Appalachian mountains with Grammy-winning producer Chance McCoy of Old Crow Medicine Show.

Summer Honey is an album that plucks on nostalgic heartstrings touching on universal themes. It’s, “a lot about love a lot about life a little about God…the struggle to live in a Godly way whatever you wanna call it.” The title track sets things up, introducing the members as their instruments enter one at a time with the guitar, bass, banjo, and drums each staking a claim before Willox chimes in with /tell me all the bad things that you’ve done/ tell me all the bad things that you do for fun./ It’s pretty groovy for a bluegrass-influenced acoustic band.

The recording quality is bright and presents a feat made all the more impressive knowing that Shovelin Stone recorded most of these tracks standing around one microphone and in one take. Recording Summer Honey this way lends the record just enough of a rough edge to keep things interesting and capture the live sound that Shovelin Stone is known for.

Summer Honey comes out on August 19th–just in time to catch those last rays of summer sunshine, go for a long drive, and listen to some Shovelin Stone. Today Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of the album in its entirety.

Going from a mellow groove to a classic folk theme, “Ain’t No Shooting Star” takes a depressing turn into minor key territory with a story about a man getting locked up for killing an innocent man/ Well I been writing all night long and I don’t know what’s worse/ soul that’s been locked up/or your heart that burns/sorry about the handwriting/this shakin on my nerves/

“Note to Self” adds some harmonica to an early aughts folk revival tune. It’s a prime millennial anthem. “Drunk When I Get There” recalls the folk ballad “Poor Wayfaring Stranger” but with the premise that the singer is possibly pregaming the afterlife which is a fun twist / If the whiskey’s gonna kill me/ At least I’ll be drunk when I get there/. Now that’s some fatalistic optimism.

“WingSong” is a delicate tune that slips between a light shuffle in the verse and then opens up in the chorus as the Throgmorton’s drums drop out and Willox sings /I’ve been slowing my whole life down/ and thinking about a lot of things/ like how we all want to get so high/ but nobody has wings/. “No Good At Waiting” is a really enjoyable throwback bluegrass tune with Thrall’s banjo and Willox’s guitar perfectly syncing up to create intricately interwoven melodies.

Listen to the album and read our chat with the band below…

How did Shovelin Stone get started?

One of our favorite stories to tell. Zak and I had become very good friends while Zak was playing college football. We had a mutual friend who played college football with Zak. I was still in high school at the time but would come around their house just to hang out. From there some jams were had and memories were made, particularly for multiple years attending the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. After many great times Zak eventually graduated college and took off around the world for many years. Living in Canada, Australia and everywhere in between. Eventually landing in Austin, Texas.

During this time I (Makenzie) stayed home in Fort Collins, CO viciously writing songs and working on guitar. I heard Zak moved to the live music capital of the world and immediately moved down to live on his couch and chase a career in music. Many jams later and a growing response from the outside world Shovelin Stone was born.

After moving back home to Colorado the stages seemed to be getting bigger and crowds larger. We felt like we needed a bigger sound. Through many fortunate events we were able to add multi instrumentalist Russick Smith and rock drummer Brett Throgmorton to the family!

Live tracking an album can be really fun or really stressful (or both). What was your experience recording Summer Honey? Would you record like that again?

I think the live tracking was super fun because it really captured what we were wanted which is our live sound. We were really going after a raw live sound so what you hear on the record is what we sound like live. And being out in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains like that was great because of the lack of distraction there was. It felt as though we were able to focus on getting exactly what we were looking for in that sense. We liked that style or recording a ton but as far doing it again I think there is always room to grow and improve from what we learned during that recording process.

Lot’s of multi-instrumentalists in the band. Is there an instrument that you just can’t walk past without playing?

Russick plays the most instruments in the band and no there is always something in that guys hands. Constantly practicing and playing. But it’s what makes him so talented and the ability to play so many different instruments.

What’s the songwriting process like for Shovelin Stone?

This song writing process starts with I (Makenzie) working out the words and chords. Then I bring it to the band to see if first they like the song and second what they can add too it whether it be timing or structure or even breaks. We say it’s like I draw the outline in the coloring book and then we color it in as a band.

Is there a track on the album that you’re particularly proud of?

I can’t speak for the band but I’d say we are all pretty proud of the song Note To Self. That song just is really fun for us to play live and has a lot of dynamics with its rises and falls and chants at the end. The message behind it is to just more or less to relax in life, not be so judgy and try to just be kind to one another. I think over all we made a great fun record and we stoked it’s finally making its debut!

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