Tag: Bitley

Countryside Tales – The Wild Honey Collective Explores Life’s Peaks and Valleys on ‘Volume 2’ Album

whc2022-1
The Wild Honey Collective features storied lyrics, timeless acoustic instrumentation and rootsy sensibilities on “Volume 2.” Photo – Michael Boyes

The Wild Honey Collective deeply explores countryside tales of the past and present on Volume 2.

The Lansing-Grand Rapids, Michigan Americana-folk quintet of Tommy McCord (vocals, acoustic guitar), Danielle Gyger (vocals, fiddle, acoustic guitar), Timmy Rodriguez (vocals, electric and upright bass), Dan O’Brien (vocals, electric and upright bass) and Adam Aymor (pedal steel) ventures through life’s peaks and valleys on their latest anecdotal album.

“One of the big differences between [2021’s] Volume 1 and Volume 2 is that on Volume 2 all of the original written songs were brand new when we did them,” said McCord, who also produced and released the album via GTG Records.

“That’s very much reflected in the material because that’s what was going on in our lives; some of us were getting married, and Timmy and Dan both had kids in 2020. It wasn’t on purpose, but that very much is true.”

Alongside Volume 2’s storied lyrics and bucolic setting, The Wild Honey Collective beautifully weaves timeless acoustic instrumentation with rootsy sensibilities. It’s a refreshing listen while spending time with family and friends at a lakeside cabin or trekking through hilly, sprawling landscapes.

“By Volume 2, we were a gigging band when we made the album, and I think that really shows,” McCord said. “It feels more like a band than a studio project. We’re just kind of driving forward with that now.”

The band also drives Volume 2 forward with invigorating renditions of traditional folk songs and unreleased tracks by other songwriters, including Mark Vella’s “Ode to Thor,” “Dark Hollow,” Buck Owens’ “There Goes My Love,” “Rocky Mountain Belle,” “Katie Cruel” and the Irish instrumental “Red Haired Boy.”

“When you play in punk bands, the idea of recording cover songs is very taboo unless if you’re making fun of it or something. But in the world of traditional and folk music, that’s kind of part of it … interpreting other people’s songs and the Great American Songbook,” said McCord, who also plays in Drinking Mercury and The Plurals.

“That’s something I’ve learned more as I’ve played is this idea of respecting and learning from other songwriters … it’s really important. It’s less about my ego and more about what are good songs.”

Continue reading “Countryside Tales – The Wild Honey Collective Explores Life’s Peaks and Valleys on ‘Volume 2’ Album“ →

Sonic Potion – New Drinking Mercury Album Drenches Listeners in Soothing Folky Dream Pop

Drinking Mercury will host an album release show Saturday at The Robin Theatre in Lansing.

Editor’s Note: Fans can now pre-order Drinking Mercury’s self-titled album on vinyl with a bonus download of alternate mixes, live recordings and demos. 

It only takes one swig of Drinking Mercury’s new self-titled album to feel warm and dreamy on an overcast November day.

In this case, the Lansing indie rock quartet’s newest album functions as a sonic potion drenching listeners in soothing waves of vibrant folk-influenced dream pop.

“We knew that was the kind of record we wanted to make. Michael Boyes and I had done a lot of acoustic shows together, or rather where he played acoustic and I played electric,” said Tommy McCord, Drinking Mercury’s guitarist and vocalist, about the band’s latest release out today via GTG Records.

“We had focused on embracing that sort of finger style-like folky guitar playing and bringing that in with more textural and psychedelic stuff. From there, it was a matter of filling in the arrangements, but we all knew we wanted to have the vocals be really prominent and arranged on the album.”

Soaring vocal harmonies intertwined with slow, thumping drumbeats, driving basslines and gentle acoustic and electric guitars abound on the band’s striking follow-up to 2011’s alt-folk debut, “Orcades.”

Recording Drinking Mercury, Split Album with The Soods

To create the album’s laid-back feel, McCord invited longtime friends and bandmates Boyes (guitar, vocals), Timmy Rodriguez (bass, keys, vocals) and Kevin Adams (drums) to his family’s 60-year-old rustic cabin in Bitely last July to record new material.

“It’s like the cliché of getting back to nature to write your masterpiece. My grandpa and some other guys built this cabin in the early ‘50s, so I’ve been going there my whole life. I had thought in a daydream it would be cool to record an album up here,” said McCord, who co-formed Drinking Mercury nearly 20 years ago with Adams while growing up in Ionia.

“It’s not like it’s a big acoustically awesome space. It’s just a pretty simple cabin, but it’s in a beautiful area, and the atmosphere is really relaxed, and your cell phone doesn’t work there, and there’s no internet.”

Continue reading “Sonic Potion – New Drinking Mercury Album Drenches Listeners in Soothing Folky Dream Pop” →