The music of Asheville, North Carolina-based outfit Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters is nuanced, bringing insight and wit to the stories Platt tells through songwriting. Lyrically driven, the band’s country roots music often inspires introspection, whether it be about life on the road, heartache or hope.
The Ones That Stay is the band’s seventh full length studio album. It delves into the beauties and trials of real life relationships, contemplating every aspect of human emotion. Platt’s plain-talk poetry connects on a guttural level in tracks like “Big Year” and “Forget Me Not Blue”. The album was recorded and produced by Scott McMicken of Dr Dog and Greg Cartwright of Reigning Sound together known as Frog House Productions.
There is an empathetic and charming wit ingrained in Platt’s songwriting. She has a knack for accessing a deep well of emotion and applying it to her story-telling, whether she is writing from her own experiences or immersing herself into the melody of emotions in another person’s life.
Performing along with Platt, The Honeycutters are Matt Smith (pedal steel and electric guitars), Rick Cooper (bass/vocals), Evan Martin (drums/vocals), and Kevin Williams (keys/vocals).
Today Glide is offering an exclusive premiere of the standout track “Forget Me Not Blue,” a charming work of country-folk that sweeps you up right out of the gate with its emotion. Reminscent of artists like Lucinda Williams as well as contemporaries like Margo Cilker, Platt exudes a wisened, timeless quality in her vocals and lyrics. This is complemented by a tight band and rich harmonies, giving this song the right amount of twangy soul and positive warmth even if the lyrics dwell on sadder topics in life. Taking it on home is a dreamy slide guitar that pulls you deeper into its embrace. If this song is any indication, then The Ones That Stay should be one of your most anticipated albums of the year.
Platt describes the inspiration behind the song:
“This song deals with grief. It seems impossible to believe that God (or whatever you believe in) won’t give us more than we can handle, but then life goes on in the aftermath of tragedy andt he sun keeps shining anyway. I wrote this song with a different tempo, it was a little more of a train beat. We practiced it that way a time or two, it felt pretty good. Then we took a lunch break. When we came back to the shed Evan and Kevin started playing before the rest of us were settled, I’m not even sure that they were playing this song butthe chords were similar and Evan was playing this beat behind them… I picked up my guitar and started singing. Greg stopped us and suggested we record a version like this, and so we did. Ithink we only played it through once and that is the take that is on the album.”
LISTEN:
