Say What?! : July 2018

Let me introduce you to

THE SPRINGS !

So if you aren’t new to this blog you know one of my favorite things to do is talk about music, especially artists that I think deserve more love. This past Summer I’ve spent some time discovering new artists and falling back in love with previous favorites. I plan to share some of that with you but today is about The Springs. A band I’ve talked about before … When they gave their fans some free music and if there is nothing I like more than free music. Even if it’s not good it’s FREE … and let me tell you what the Springs gave their fans was an amazing taste of what was to come.

This post is going to do double duty, it’s going to tell you about their new EP and also serve as my launching pad for my campaign to get this band on XM radio, specially The Highway. I can totally see these two chatting with Storme Warren or On the Horizon with Buzz Brainard. They have a very unique story to tell and the music to back it up. I have said it before but I’ll say it again I really wish there was a better way to tell them about a song or group that should be a #HighwayFind … I mean how does a #HighwayFind become found? I figure it’s word of mouth. If enough people start talking about an artist or a song then the powers that be at The Highway take notice and it just takes off …. At least that’s my hope for The Springs whom I’ve been following since 2011.

For those that don’t know … The Springs are a fabulous Country Music Duo from Hendersonville, Tennessee (originally from Alabama). This duo is made up of Stewart and Holly Halcomb who describe their sound as a mixture of Country, Southern Rock, Pop, and Traditional Country which describes this multi-award winning duo who also write their own songs with friends.

Their story :

Stewart and Holly are both from Alabama, him from Enterprise her from New Market (Huntsville/Decatur area). They met at the Bluebird Café after they had both moved to Nashville to chase the Neon Rainbow. In 2013 the couple got engaged, also at the BlueBird (where they play every chance they get), and were married in 2015. Their wedding was streamed live via Periscope so their fans could attend. It’s that connection to their fans whom they call Frans (Friends + Fans = Frans) that’s going to help this couple thrive both on the stage and off. Heck earlier this year they shared a picture with a “Fran” whom they have started a fitness challenge with and now all three are more fit and more comfortable in their own skins. In my last post I talked about the 7 free Songs they released on Halloween (2015) via their website. Those tracks alone were great, I’m still devastated that Everybody Runs didn’t go viral cause it’s a fantastic song that paints a picture in my head every time I hear it and I love when music does that. That entire 7 song “EP” for lack of a better name made me hungry for more.

I love how this group compliments one another perfectly yet know their strengths and how to showcase each artist and blend together. It’s not uncommon for a track to feature both, or let one of them run with the track and you can totally picture the other standing outside of the booth with a huge grin on their face proud and encouraging the other.

In June 2018 they released “Old Fashioned” which is a dream for the ears with more poppy country and nods to the traditional country that Holly and Stewart grew up listening to. Let’s go track by track … cause you know me that’s how I do. As previously stated these are the thoughts that run through my head as I listen to each track. Enjoy.

Pulse – In 2017, as they were working on this album they released a few tracks, and this was one of them. I really like this track, it’s not my favorite but I do like it. I like how their voices blend together so perfectly in the chorus and could listen to that harmony all day long.

Sweet Spot – I LOVE everything about this track. If someone asked me what my favorite track was it would be this one. I love the playfulness in Stewart’s voice. I also love the nod to old country as well as the “rap” aspect of the track. Plus, it’s a really cute song about how the right girl can change any guy, yet the guy slips back into those old habits when she’s not around. However the right girl can always bring him back to where he needs to be. Ha!

American Made – I could listen to this track EVERY SINGLE DAY and never get tired of it. It’s about life in general, and I love how it is mostly about taking what life throws at you and moving forward despite it. I like how it’s not all happy and wonderful but that they just make it work by not giving up. I can see this video in my head, as you know dear reader it makes me really happy when I can do that with a track. This song should gov viral it’s something everyone needs to hear. Especially in these times.

I want it to – It’s time for Holly to get her rap on in this track. I like this one, but it just feels like its missing something. Like it starts building to something then doesn’t quite get there. Once again, the harmony saves this track for me. I can see this one playing very well live even if it falls a little flat in my ear buds, at least to me.

Cool – I know it seems that I like the tracks where Stewart takes the lead but it’s not my fault those tracks just … well speak to me. I’ve been that person at the bar afraid that everything I’m doing is going to putt off whomever I’m trying to get the attention of and I like the idea that it’s finally working cause he found the right one. I love the line “I don’t mind the game as long as I’m playing by your rules” or something to that effect.

God Made one of those – I’ll admit this is not my favorite track on the album. It’s very slow and while I get the message behind it I just don’t love it as much as the others. It’s not a track I skip entirely every time but there are times I’m not interested in it and skip it. I do like the nod to family that is included in this track cause let’s face it that’s how we all became who we are and a reminder of that is never a bad idea.

Right Kind of Love – I really like this track mostly cause it’s got a peppy beat behind it but it’s very different from the other tracks on the album. I’ll admit sometimes it comes on and I’m like who is this and pull up my player to see it’s The Springs. I like the message behind it, that they both have a past but that that past led them to where they are now and they finally see what they deserve in the other’s eyes.

Old Fashioned – This is another that they released in 2017. I like the roll of this track, I love that this is the title track cause it speaks to a lot of what this band is about for me. They aren’t flashy, you won’t see Holly nearly naked on stage, you won’t see Stewart doing “bro country” they are a throw back to a time when Country Music was amazing. They would have destroyed the charts back in the 90s and I think Country Music fans want that kind of music back on the radio.

Ex on your Hand – The first time I heard “Too old to be going out with an ex on your hand” I literally stopped what I was doing and payed more attention. That was brilliant. The combination of the “X” that someone gets going to a club/bar as well as the “X” that someone has when they are obsessed with an ex that should stay that way. That parallel was brilliant and I don’t know who came up with it but I’m thrilled they did. I can think of about 10 friends who need to hear this track and even more around the Country that likely need to hear it too.

Stop - This is another that they released in 2017. Such a beautiful track that reminds you that while people fall in love very easily no one ever wrote a book about how to let go when one wants it to end and the other wasn’t ready. I can see Stewart at the bar with the Bartender “asking where you have been.” I can see him driving around town doing everything he can to keep from turning onto her road, I can see it and have lived it. Nothing is worse than being the one who didn’t want it to end but it ended anyway and all you can do is move forward cause moving backwards gets you no where.

We Got This House – This track is another one that speaks exactly to who I think Stewart and Holly are. It’s a song about rolling with what the universe throws at you and picking up and waking up the next day to do it all over again. This track is about how the “house” is the center of their universe that helped create the rest of the path. This track definitely has an “American Made” feel to it but on a different level. The downs make the ups way better as long as you don’t let the downs take it all away, sometimes you just have to leap and hope it all works out.

This 11 track CD was released, and self-promoted to a debut of #33 on Billboard, #33 in Country Album Sales and #40 in Independent Album sales that week. They have no label, no manager, no promotional team, no publisher they are strictly a word of mouth group that is traveling the South playing their music and building a fan base, the old-fashioned way. If you get Sweet Spot, American Made, and Cool I swear you will come back for the rest of the CD. I beg you to check out their new album, via the links below, and get this band on The Highway ASAP!

This band deserves to be a #HighwayFind cause they are definitely #OnTheHorizon jump on the bandwagon now before there’s no room.