Anya Hinkle has been a darling in the Americana scene for the past ten years or so. As the founder and principal voice of two Asheville, NC bands, Dehlia Low and Tellico, she has been lionized both for her singing and songwriting prowess. She is now striking out under her own name with a new album expected soon from Organic Records.
Actually a native Virginian, Anya sought out the Asheville area for her home back in 2006 because of its burgeoning bluegrass scene. Prior to music becoming both her passion and her livelihood, she had been a competitive cyclist and a conservationist. But she tells us that music offers new challenges, and is happy to share this premiere of Road Of The Winds from the upcoming album.
“Before I began singing, I was in graduate school studying botany. I was researching ancient Polynesian migration in the South Pacific and the plants that people carried with them on their journeys. More than a thousand years before Columbus, Polynesian people departed the Asian continent in great canoes, voyaging thousands of miles before eventually reaching tiny islands in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean like Hawaii and Tahiti. It boggles the imagination to think of the courage and faith it would take to get in a boat and sail into the sunrise toward a new homeland that you hadn’t ever seen and didn’t even know existed.
Similarly, we all are constantly moving closer toward our own homeland, a place we sense is there, somewhere, if we can just pay attention and listen closely to our inner voice. It takes tremendous bravery and tenacity to believe that we can grow to become the person we were meant to be, doing the work we are meant to be doing. We are embarking on a great journey with each sunrise, with each day we are alive. This song helps me feel free to move ahead in new directions with boldness and conviction, even though I don’t exactly know where it will all lead. But like the ancient mariners of the Pacific, once you leave the shore you are committed to the journey — there is no turning back.”
Anya is supported here by Billy Cardine on reso-guitar, Julian Pinelli on fiddle, Thomas Cassell on mandolin, Johnny Calamari on bass, and Mary Lucey on harmony vocals. Hinkle plays guitar.
Road Of The Winds, the single, releases tomorrow, April 24, when it will be available wherever you stream music online. Radio programmers can get it now from AirPlay Direct.
