There’s a moment in the new Halestorm music video, for its current single “Back From The Dead,” where the band’s members are zipped into body bags in a place that is obviously a basement morgue.
The video opens with singer Lizzy Hale being worked on by hospital staff as she’s on a gurney being wheeled down a long hall and at another point the group is in a cemetery.
Spooky? A bit.
Thematic and fitting with the lyrics? Absolutely.
“This was a really fun video to shoot,” said drummer Arejay Hale in an email interview. “I will admit there was a moment where I was literally lying in a dug out grave while extras dumped bags of dirt on me, and just a small part of my mind felt mildly freaked out. The dirt was heavy, I couldn’t hear anything and I had to open my eyes when my face was uncovered, so I ended up with a lot of dirt in my eyes, hair, ears, nose and mouth, but, hey, that’s what you do for your art!
“It’s fun for me to do things like that because I love new experiences and being able to express myself creatively in a different way. Taking a shower after the shoot took a while; I had to do some serious scrubbing.”
The hard rock act premiered its newest single Aug. 18 and has a new album planned for next year. The group has performed together since 1997 when the brother-sister duo started the group. It now includes guitarist Joe Hottinger and bassist Josh Smith.
Last year, the group had to cancel its tour, but is now back on the road. Halestorm plays at 8 p.m. Sept. 8 at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium with The HU as openers.
“Needless to say, it’s been a rough year and a half on everyone, and it looks like we’re not out of the weeds yet,” Arejay Hale said. “We were intending to finish an album in 2020, but for obvious reasons had to delay recording several months. I feel like this pandemic has made us all grow as humans with whole new perspectives, and it’s given me a much deeper well to draw from (writing wise). I’ve been encouraging everyone to stay creative while stuck at home, and for me the only thing I could do was write. So, it may work for us or against us, but we had much more time than anticipated and much more inspiration regarding the positive and negative things we’ve observed during these hard times.”
The new single is about overcoming obstacles, including death. The powerful song can easily mesh in concert with other songs like “I Miss The Misery” and “Love Bites (So Do I).”
Arejay Hale wrote a specific message for local fans: “Asheville, you’re one of my favorite places in America, can’t wait to see you again, thank you for having us back. We’re in this together, we’ll get through this together and we’ll get back to normal life soon. Stay safe and stay good to each other.”
Rose arrives with new music
Soulful singer Maggie Rose plays at 8 p.m. Sept. 4 at The Grey Eagle and the Nashville-based artist has a new album’s worth of tunes.
Rose, who has performed more than 80 times on the Grand Ole Opry, released “Have A Seat” in August, but it isn’t a pure country album. The music moves through soul, R&B, pop and power ballads and has been well received by critics.
Rose’s third album, which was preceded by the singles “What Are We Fighting For,” “Saint,” and “For Your Consideration,” was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and was produced by Alabama Shakes keyboardist Ben Tanner.
’90s country star plays Black Mountain
It would be easy for country star John Michael Montgomery to play an entire night of music pulled from his chart success.
Montgomery had seven No. 1 country hits, including “I Swear,” “Be My Baby Tonight,” and “I Can Love You Like That.” Add in the 13 other songs that reached country’s top 10 and there’s a night of great songs.
Fans will get the chance to hear Montgomery sing the hits and much more when he performs at 7 p.m. Sept. 3 at Silverado’s in Black Mountain.
Experimental rockers open tour locally
Maryland-based experimental rockers Animal Collective will kick off their upcoming tour with a night of outdoor music in Asheville, as the quartet will play at 6 p.m. Sept. 6 at the Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre.
Animal Collective hasn’t performed as a group since late 2019 and have only announced five shows on this tour.
The group began in 2003 and has released 10 full-length albums and several EPs. The most recent release was the soundtrack to the 2020 movie “Crestone.”
Grammy winner at Salvage Station
Steve Earle is bringing his Guitar Town to our town.
The three-time Grammy winner, who is known for classic songs like “Copperhead Road” and “Guitar Town,” will play with his band, The Dukes, at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 3 at Salvage Station. The opener will be the legendary rocker Los Lobos.
Earle recently released an album titled “J.T.,” which is a tribute to his son, Justin Townes Earle, another exceptional singer-songwriter who died in 2020 from an accidental drug overdose, according to reports. The elder Earle covered 10 of his son’s songs for the record.
Earle has said in previous interviews that he will do a few of the songs off the “J.T.” album, some off of 2020’s “Ghosts of West Virginia,” and mix in the classics that everyone wants to hear from his catalog.
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