New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Atlanta based duo The Ormewoods are set to release their debut album "The Bedroom Sessions" on July 2, 2016. In anticipation, they are releasing their single, "Hey Babe", through digital distribution.
The Ormewoods are a modern love story for all ages. 13 years ago, the couple who had been friends for years, parted ways after Don told Claire not to marry her now ex-husband 6 weeks before her wedding. Claire did not take his advice and although invited, Don did not attend her wedding. The two never spoke or saw each other again.
Don says, "I don't know that I was hitting on her when I said that, but I don't know that I wasn't. It was hard because we were both involved with good people who neither of us would have ever wanted to hurt. But you can't help who you are attracted to. Things could've gone such a different way that night but we did the best we could considering the circumstances."
Fast-forward to June of 2015 when Claire and long-time writing partner
Heidi Higgins, who perform as The Daffodils, were working out some new songs at the Red Clay Theater. She posted a video on Facebook and Don saw it. He was living in Duluth, right around the corner and reached out to Claire see if she was still there but she had already left. That moment was the beginning of a new chapter for both artists, who were now both divorced and single.
In an odd twist of fate, at the same time, Don relocated back to the city into a rental that happened to be walking distance from Claire's house in Ormewood Park. Don says, "I had no idea where she lived. It's such a weird coincidence." Claire says, "When I realized how close he was moving, I just couldn't believe it. It felt like the Universe was conspiring to bring us back together. Older, wiser, but the same spark and chemistry we always had."
"The first night we saw each other, we ended up at my recording studio and were playing guitars and singing to each other. We both knew our voices had a special blend. The kind of blend you can't train for, it's just happenstance," says McCollister. "At that moment, I knew I wanted to sing with her. What I didn't know at the time, is that Claire is a very disciplined writer and she writes every day in a journal. Copious notes and details. She was documenting every conversation, every date, everything."
About three months into the relationship, Claire started playing for Don some of the songs she had written, with lyrics straight out of her diary. "It was nerve-racking," says Claire. "But luckily, he really liked them."
Don, a two time Grammy award winning engineer/producer, liked them enough that he brought his recording/production rig to Claire's bedroom so he could record the songs. "I wanted to capture the intimacy and the honesty of what she was saying." They used a week of vacation time to record what they now call "The Bedroom Sessions." The first single, "Hey Babe", was written about the whirlwind of feelings Claire was feeling in the beginning of their budding romance.
Band Bio
The Ormewoods are Don McCollister and Claire Pearson. Artists that 2 time Grammy award winner Don McCollister has worked with have collectivley sold over 15 million albums, been nominated for 85 major music awards, of which they have won 47, had 34 #1 billboard hits and charted singles. Claire Pearson (previously performed as Pearson Perry but dropped the Perry moniker after divorce) is an Atlanta based singer-songwriter whose song "Love is a Mountain" (co-written with
Heidi Higgins) charted #37 on on the top 100 list of most played singles on independent radio in 2014. She was also one of the top 5 most played pop artists on independent radio in 2014. according to
Roots Music Report. She founded Atlanta Intown Songwriters in 2011 to build the Atlanta artist network for aspiring songwriters.
