New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Today, beloved Nashville indie label Dualtone
Music Group shares two new covers off their 20th anniversary release Amerikinda: 20 Years Of Dualtone, out August 6. The tracks include Shovels & Rope's take on Shakey Graves' "Dearly Departed," and Shakey Graves' version of "
Cheers" by The Wild Reeds.
American Songwriter spoke with both artists about their respective covers and praised Shovels & Rope's "expertly visceral, moving performance.
"Shakey has been a dear pal to us for many years now and we have a lot of really sweet history with him," says Shovels & Rope. "We did our first headlining tour with him. We've been to Australia together. He has been a true friend and provided us support and encouragement when we had our kids. He's as lovely and genuine as you think he is. We wanted to cover his song to return some of that love and reach through the heaviness of this pandemic and give him an audible hug."
Shakey Graves adds, "The Wild Reeds are a truly righteous group, wonderful folks with insane talent. I'll always remember hearing 'Cheers.' We were on tour together right before their record of the same name came out. After a show we got to preview some of the unreleased tracks and my jaw was on the floor the whole time." He continues, "I'm a sucker for melody and I jumped at the opportunity to get to sing some of their music into my own microphone."
Since announcing the anniversary album last month, Dualtone has shared covers from Gregory Alan Isakov and The Lumineers, which were both featured on NPR's World Cafe, as well as "fantastic" (The Austin American-Statesman) Guy Clark covers from Wild Child and Hayes Carll.
Brett Dennen's cover of Langhorne Slim's "Life Is Confusing" is also out now, along with Angie McMahon's cover of Oh Pep's "Tea Milk & Honey" and The Wild Reeds' cover of Mt. Joy's "Younger Days," which were both featured by Flood Magazine. Most recently, Dualtone shared The Lone Bellow's cover of Shovels & Rope's "O' Be Joyful" and Drew & Ellie Holcomb's take on June Carter Cash's "Keep On The Sunny Side," highlighted at The Boot.
Amerikinda: 20 Years of Dualtone features a slew of Dualtone artists and alumni all covering each other's songs in celebration of the label's landmark birthday. Known for their incredible roster of artists who straddle the line between roots and AAA, Dualtone Records was founded in 2001 by Scott Robinson and Dan Herrington, joined soon after by Paul Roper, who quickly established the company as a label that would change the paradigm of what a successful independent model could be. Based around a co-operative approach built on fair, transparent partnerships, Dualtone bred a family atmosphere where artists could effectively build and grow with the label. Their format is now taught in business schools and is considered by many to have helped usher in a new era of more artist-friendly record contracts across the industry.
Inaugural releases from Dualtone included
David Ball's Amigo as well as the pivotal June Carter Cash GRAMMY Award-winning album Wildwood Flower. As the label grew, they continued to bring in elder statesmen like Guy Clark and
Bobby Bare, while at the same time branching out to attract younger indie artists such as
Brett Dennen, Shovels & Rope, Drew Holcomb, Noah Gundersen, Langhorne Slim, The Felice Brothers, Delta Spirit, Shakey Graves, Wild Child, Mt. Joy, Amos Lee, Gregory Alan Isakov, Robert Earl Keen, The Lone Bellow, Kathleen Edwards, and The Lumineers.
Looking over the prodigious list of GRAMMY Awards, gold and platinum releases, and luminary artists that have called Dualtone home over the years, you'd be forgiven for expecting a staff of dozens, but the entire office could fit into a 15-passenger tour van (with room to spare). It's this small, tight-knit family that's been responsible for fostering so many influential careers and helping to redefine what's possible for an indie label in the 21st century. Even after a tumultuous 2020, which saw Dualtone HQ in East Nashville leveled by a tornado and a global pandemic hitting within weeks of each other, the label isn't just surviving right now, it's thriving, posting some of its all-time best sales and streaming numbers to date. The trials and tribulations of the past year have laid bare the strength, passion, and creativity that have served as the label's foundation from the beginning.
"From the very start, we've tried to build this safe, encouraging space for artists to experiment and create," said Robinson, "and it's just so cool to see how deeply these bands have connected with each other and to hear the influences and friendships that stretch across the whole history of the label. At the end of the day, there's something special about the energy of Dualtone, and it's not because of me or Paul or any other individual. It's because of the way that everyone, artists and staff alike, come together as a community."
Track List:
1) Wild Child - "My Favorite Picture Of You" (Guy Clark)
2) Mt. Joy - "Ain't No Reason" (Brett Dennen)
3) The Wild Reeds - "Younger Days" (Mt. Joy)
4) Gregory Alan Isakov - "Salt And The Sea" (The Lumineers)
5) The
Lumineers - "Caves" (Gregory Alan Isakov)
6) Angie McMahon - "Tea, Milk & Honey" (Oh Pep!)
7) Langhorne Slim - "
Stubborn Love" (The Lumineeres)
8)
Brett Dennen - "Life Is Confusing" (Langhorne Slim)
9) Drew &
Ellie Holcomb - "Keep On The Sunny Side" (June Carter Cash)
10) Ivan &
Alyosha - "Let Your
Heart Hold Fast" (Fort Atlantic)
11) The
Lone Bellow - "O' Be Joyful" (Shovels & Rope)
12) Shakey Graves - "
Cheers" (The Wild Reeds)
13)
Shovels & Rope - "Dearly Departed" (Shakey Graves)
14) Hayes Carll - "Worry B Gone" (Guy Clark)
15) Radney Foster - "Riding With
Private Malone" (David Ball).
