Two years before releasing Gettin’ By on Gettin’ Down — the most guitar-driven, groove-heavy album of Sam Morrow’s catalog, with songs that roll just as hard as they rock — Morrow hit the highway in support of his third record, Concrete & Mud. Despite the 28-year-old being a road warrior for years, this time things felt different. Joined by a band of amplified roots-rockers, Morrow spent eighteen months traveling halfway across the world, playing Concrete & Mud songs to the biggest audiences of his career. By the time the dust settled, he’d become a staple of Americana radio on both sides of the Atlantic, with outlets like Rolling Stone and NPR singing his praises.
Those road miles set the stage for Gettin’ By on Gettin’ Down, a modern album that revisits — and reshapes — the primordial sounds of hip-shaking rock & roll. These nine songs are rooted in grease, grit, and groove, from the swampy soul of “Round ‘N Round” to the funky syncopation of “Rosarita” to the hook-laden rock of “Money Ain’t a Thing.” There’s hardly an acoustic guitar in sight; instead, amplifiers and guitar pedals rule the roost, with everything driven forward by percussive rhythms that owe as much to R&B as country music. Written and recorded in the wake of Concrete & Mud’s acclaimed tour, Gettin’ By on Gettin’ Down doubles down on the electrified fire and fury of Sam Morrow’s live shows, with a road-ready band joining him on every song.
David Quinn’s third album was born from a logo on a decades-old ashtray he found in a corner nook at Nashville’s Sound Emporium while tracking his previous record. The amber glass piece had seen better days, but it was the words “Country Fresh” imprinted on the side in its vintage font that grabbed Quinn’s attention. “I never stopped thinking about it and started using the phrase ‘country fresh’ to describe how I was living and all the things that I like. It just stuck with me and once I wrote the song ‘Country Fresh’ it ended up being the whole theme of the record.”
Alongside this star-studded ensemble, Quinn recorded a love letter to the midwest with tunes that tell stories of lost love, the open road, and finding one’s place in the world. Country Fresh is a collection of country-fried Americana gems corralled by Quinn’s singular voice and expertly- spun tales of heartache and triumphs amidst a vast midwestern landscape.
Throughout the album, Quinn gives a masterclass in storytelling with the ability to stage vibrant vignettes of life, home, and heart. He burns through the songwriting at a cool stride, allowing you the chance to see yourself in his stories.
Country Fresh is a statement-making record of gutting, instinctual song craft. It’s depth is built from the road less traveled, but traveled often. There’s nothing pretentious about what Quinn has created here; Country Fresh simply sounds like its creator is taking you along on the ride of his life.
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