The Movin’ On is the second release from Portland, Oregon, country-folk songwriter Taylor Kopp. This five-song EP delivers his signature storytelling and haunting vocals but with fresh sonic elements introduced via his new collaboration with producer and pedal steel player Raymond Richards (Blitzen Trapper, Local Natives). The resulting sound, both ethereal and organic, represents an exciting step forward for the artist.
Now, several years removed from the personal grief he explored on his first album, Found, Kopp broadens his scope. Yet he handles his subjects, from angels to lowdown men, with the same gentle care, inviting listeners to stay close as they travel on through the mysteries together.
Folk music has always had a literary element in how the icons of the genre spin spellbinding tales of mystifying characters. On Kopp’s new single, “The Orchard,” the artist’s vulnerability places you directly next to the main character, allowing you to witness what they see and process emotions together. Kopp’s emotional songwriting and masterful storytelling abilities are fully displayed, but the lyrics are far from blunt. What makes “The Orchard” feel so special is Kopp’s ability to connect with the listener via vague poetry and nature-themed metaphors. In lieu of a more direct approach, the artist’s words accent the sparse yet potent acoustics of arrangement, giving each element its breathing room while harmonizing their longing. Kopp’s “The Orchard” is pure poetic folk as the artist’s fearlessly explores complex emotions over guitar melodies that evoke floating on your back in the ocean.
“I wrote ‘The Orchard’ after a morning of apple picking and cider pressing on a friend’s family farm in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. I had a moment there under the trees, our buckets full of fruit, that I’ll never forget,” explains Kopp. “‘The Orchard’ is a song about the triumph of hard-fought love and about the power of nature to guide and protect us as we set out to find it.”
