The Bluest Sky – Homegrown
The Bluest Sky – Homegrown
Format: Digital
Label: Independent
Release: 2025
Release date: April 25, 2025
The Bluest Sky released their eponymous debut record in April of 2023, with songwriter Chuck Melchin (the Bean Pickers Union) enthusiastically pursuing a revival of mid 90’s era alt-country
Influenced by bands like Son Volt, Wilco, the Jayhawks and Whiskeytown, they quickly followed up the critically acclaimed first record with another well received full-length record, Raindancer, in the summer of 2024.
‘Homegrown’ continues to harken back to the heyday of alt-country with a mini-album of six songs that ride the rock side of the alt-country train, in the way bands like The Bottle Rockets or early REM did back in the day. There’s a distinct Stones’ Exile on Main St. / Black Crowes / Faces vibe to the record with Andy Santospago and Mike Giordano providing scorching electric guitars and Dave Westner supplying the drive playing bass and drums on four of the six tracks. Jim Larkin shines as the one-man rhythm section bringing the swing on the song ‘Cordelia’. Good friend, former bandmate and frequent collaborator Lynne Taylor of the excellent genre bending duo Rockwood Taylor sings harmony on the rocking ‘Interstate 84’ and completing the set takes the lead vocal on the mournful ‘Tears for Appalachia’, a song written for a fundraiser in response the horrific flooding in Asheville, NC in 2024.
“Some songs tell you right away that they are destined to be a featured track on your next record. They are the perfect fit. The right vibe, the right length, right tempo. Right attitude. You can almost know where in the track list that song will sit. Then there are these songs. I tend to think in albums. I don’t always achieve it perfectly but I really work to make records that have a cohesive continuity to them. I want them to flow. These songs were different than the other songs in the pipeline. 4 out of 6 were written with a telecaster in open G tuning. This gave them a decidedly different attitude. Simple chords and lyrics. A bit surly. Faces? Exile? Black Crowes? Yeah, I liked the songs a lot, but they are quite different. So I figured let’s package them up in a long EP. Or a short album. Yeah, a mini-album. So I laid down some guide tracks and gathered the coolest musicians I know and had them make the songs shine. Homegrown, by The Bluest Sky. It’s a fun romp, hope you enjoy it.
…one more thing – the last song, ‘Tears for Appalachia’, was written in response to the horrific flooding that devastated Asheville NC and the surrounding area last fall. We are donating last year’s proceeds to Brother Wolf, an animal rescue group in Asheville. It features the powerful vocals of solid friend, former bandmate and frequent collaborator Lynne Taylor from the duo Rockwood Taylor.” – Chuck Melchin
Website: https://www.facebook.com/BluestSkyBand
Tracks:
01. Pretty Girl From Mobile (3:09)
02. Pressure Drop (3:44)
03. Cordelia (5:27)
04. Interstate 84 (EXPLICIT*) (3:02)
05. The Bridge (4:14)
06. Tears for Appalachia (4:16)(feat. Lynne Taylor)
All songs by Chuck Melchin
*
Includes an expletive that may be deemed unsuitable for broadcast, pre-watershed.