Bluegrass Band NewTown Releases New Album "HARLAN ROAD‏"

By Timothy Yap May 11, 2016 06:55 AM EDT

Kentucky Bluegrassers NewTown bring hard-traveled backroad tales to life on their new CD, HARLAN ROAD (Mountain Home Music Company). Produced by multi-Grammy Award winner Barry Bales, the 11-track outing, due in stores on July 8, combines fresh, down-to-earth songs, complex instrumentation and mesmerizing vocals that offer listeners a feast for the senses. Fans can pre-order the CD now on iTunes.

The Lexington-based band is fronted by award-winning fiddler Kati Penn and her husband, Jr. Williams, a respected banjo player. The two split lead vocal duties and present powerful performances on this moving musical journey. Highlights abound and include Hayes Griffin's trailblazing instrumental "Feast Of The Gryphon" - an explosion of exquisite pickin' that jumps the groove in its intensity. Kati slides to the sultry with her "old school" Rock-inflected take of Lucinda Williams' hit, "Can't Let Go"(written by Randy Weeks), brims with confidence on the Americana vibe of Sarah Siskind's "Wildfire," and haunts the hills and valleys with a stunning performance of Tyler Childers' magnificent, "The Crows And The Jakes."

The disc's title track, a minor-key miracle of loneliness and longing written again by Childers, is brought to life by Jr.'s gritty desperation, while the Bluegrass/Funk of his transcendent take on C.J. Cain's "Drifter Blues" proves his versatility. On another Childers' composition, the banjo-laden "Hard Times," Williams brings the heartache of coal country to stark reality.

TRACK LISTING:

1. All That I Can Take

2. Can't Let Go

3. Harlan Road

4. The Heart You've Been Tending

5. Hard Times

6. The Feast Of The Gryphon

7. The Crows And The Jakes

8. Drifter Blues

9. Wildfire

10. Castaway

11. Come Back To Me

Rounding out the band are Travis Anderson (bass), Mitchell Cannon (mandolin) and Hayes Griffin (guitar). Between them, they bring Jazz, Bluegrass and Contemporary disciplines to the music, completing the diverse and textured sound that is NewTown. This highly-anticipated album will not disappoint.

NewTownL - R: Travis Anderson, Jr. Williams, Kati Penn, Mitchell Cannon and Hayes Griffin Photo Credit: Kim Brantley

ABOUT NewTownFounded in 2009, the Lexington, Kentucky-based NewTown made the national spotlight with the 2013 album, TIME MACHINE, and the #1 Bluegrass Today single, "All I Was to You." The group has gained a strong following playing festivals throughout the U.S., and sharing bills with Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, John Cowan Band and more. NewTown has appeared several times at the legendary Station Inn in Nashville, and performed twice at showcases at the IBMA's World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, North Carolina, and tour regularly.
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