Today we have a sneak peak at the next single from Mountain Home Music for Unspoken Tradition. Back On The Crooked Road is set for release on Friday, February 5, and our readers get a first listen two days early.
The song comes from a pair of veteran bluegrass songwriters, Tim Stafford and Jon Weisberger, who employ an image that has been popular in our music for the past decade or so. There are never too many road songs, nor ones about the rural/urban divide that has been part of the American experience since its founding.
Stafford says that they looked for a way to turn that image the other way ’round with Back On The Crooked Road.
“I knew there had been songs about Virginia’s musical Crooked Road. But we wanted to invoke something different with this one, something about being ‘out on the rural route’ after living in the city. I think it’s something a lot of folks are living these days!”
Using a key change between verse and chorus gives this song an appropriate contrast, and also helps play on the dualism it discusses.
Sav Sankaran, Unspoken Tradition bassist and the band’s newest member, sings lead on this track, and sees another dichotomy in the notion of a road.
“Winter’s chill always strikes a tone of reflection on the crooked roads we all walk to where we find ourselves in life. Sometimes, by taking the straight and narrow path that seemed the best, we miss the journey in pursuit of the destination. The lyrics of this song perfectly encapsulate that feeling, and I tried to capture some of that wistful introspection in my vocal performance.”
Keep all that in mind while taking a listen.
Sav is joined by his bandmates Ty Gilpin on mandolin, Audie McGinnis on guitar, Zane McGinnis on banjo, and Tim Gardner on fiddle.
Look for Back On The Crooked Road from Unspoken Tradition on Friday wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers can get the track now from AirPlay Direct.
