The highly anticipated new single from Authentic Unlimited has just arrived, bringing with it a wave of excitement and new ventures for the band.
Cost of Living sits you in the passenger seat headed down the road under a dark-navy sky, with a lonesome, yellow moon hanging in the windshield as you listen to the main character pour out the story of his life, and the choice that defined it: a decision made to live on the road and a chronicle of where that choice will lead him. As Colton Baker sings, he unfolds the reality of choosing a life tied to the long, white highway-lines by a music career. The hauntingly-authentic vocal delivery from Colton and soberingly-honest lyrics from Jerry Cole deliver the feeling of hearing the story first-hand from the man who’s living it. The final price of a life spent running the roads for the sake of music may just be greater than any reward the music brings, and he’s beginning to find that to be a hard, unrelenting truth.
“The Cost of Living is more than just the price of a ticket or the toll of the road,” Jerry Cole shares. It’s the quiet heartbreak of traded love and fleeting moments, all for the sake of a song. A musician may fill the world with music, but one day, when the lights dim and the strings go silent, it’s the silence of solitude that will remain.”
The song features powerful lead vocals and guitar work from Colton Baker, iconic fiddle and mandolin work from Stephen Burwell and Jesse Brock, and Jerry Cole and Eli Johnston delivering classic AU harmonies and playing bass and rhythm guitar.
Cost of Living holds two firsts for Authentic Unlimited. It is the first single to be released featuring their newest member, Colton Baker. He joined the band back in April, and this song rolled into their repertoire at the same time. In fact, both he and this song made their official stage debuts with the band at the Big Lick Bluegrass Festival in Oakboro, North Carolina.
Colton provided his thoughts on the new single saying, “When Jerry brought this song to the band, the hook immediately stopped us all in our tracks. We knew right away we wanted this to be the first single to kick off my tenure in the band, and I can’t wait for everyone to hear the finished product!”
This is also Authentic Unlimited’s first release for their brand new label, Edisonic Records. The band is the pioneering group for this new Daywind Music Group label run by Eddie Leonard, and they will serve as the foundation for the label, setting the precedent for their future label mates and solidifying the vision for Edisonic Records.
“We wanted to form a label whose identity is not based on a particular genre of music, but rather embraces and supports artists whose creative pursuits result in more expansive, cross-genre sounds at times,” says Ed Leonard, President of the Daywind Music Group. “I was given an opportunity years ago to direct the expansion of DMG, whose labels include Billy Blue Records and Billy Jam Records, and I wanted to give my son, Eddie Leonard, a passionate fan of traditional bluegrass, Americana, and progressive jam music, as well as a gifted marketer in the bluegrass space, the opportunity to do the same. His love for this music and significant experience in marketing will bode well for the artists fortunate enough to work with the label, which will be backed by the team at DMG, and its long-term, indie-focused distribution relationship with The Orchard (Sony). Authentic Unlimited, who recorded four albums for DMG’s Billy Blue Records label, is immensely talented and the perfect group to build the Edisonic Records label around. This first single is powerful!”
Cost of Living is available on all major streaming platforms and to broadcasters via AirPlay Direct.
