{"id":15794,"date":"2021-01-30T00:24:22","date_gmt":"2021-01-30T06:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/garyhayescountry.com\/?p=15794"},"modified":"2023-09-03T20:08:11","modified_gmt":"2023-09-03T20:08:11","slug":"albums-i-missed-amy-speace-announces-new-album-with-the-orphan-brigade-there-used-to-be-horses-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garyhayescountry.com\/?p=15794","title":{"rendered":"Albums I Missed: Amy Speace Announces New Album with The Orphan Brigade, There Used To Be Horses Here"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a><\/div>\n
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Amy Speace Captures Deeply Personal Album<\/div>\n
with The Orphan Brigade,<\/div>\n
There Used To Be Horses Here<\/div>\n
Out April 30th; Hear the album\u2019s first single today<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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January 11, 2021 – Nashville, TN – Looking back on a twelve-month span between her son\u2019s first birthday and the loss of her father, award-winning singer and songwriter Amy Speace<\/a> culled eleven new songs directly from her depth of personal experiences\u2014childhood memories, coming of age in New York City, and losing a parent while learning to become one\u2014to create her new full-length album, There Used to Be Horses Here; out April 30th on Proper Records\/Wind Bone Records. While many of the subjects on the album are heavy, There Used to Be Horses Here isn\u2019t a sad record. Instead, it\u2019s a direct reflection of that year in Speace\u2019s life, propelled by a playwright\u2019s eye for detail, a performer\u2019s gift of vocal delivery, a poet\u2019s talent for concise writing, and the extraordinary musicianship of collaborators, The Orphan Brigade<\/a>.The end result is a sum much greater than its parts; a calling card for fans and critics alike to ask themselves whether Speace still fits only into the folksinger box she\u2019s long been placed in\u2014or perhaps, with this new album, she deserves to be seen in a new light.<\/div>\n
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Today, Rolling Stone<\/a> premiered a music video for the album\u2019s first single and title track, \u201cThere Used to Be Horses Here,\u201d calling it \u201cmelancholy but gorgeous,\u201d and noting that the video\u2019s vivid imagery of a picturesque farm and its beautiful occupants serve \u201cas a metaphor for all that we lose to both progress and the passing of time.\u201d Speace laments, \u201cDuring the last week of my father\u2019s life, I drove [the road on the way to her parent\u2019s house, past a farm she\u2019d grown to love] and the farm had been sold, gutted for condos, and the horses were gone. I wrote this song very quickly after he died, the loss of both the horses, my childhood, my parents\u2019 house, and most acutely, my father all tied to the images in this song.\u201d SiriusXM\u2019s The Village also debuted the single this morning with an exclusive interview. Click here<\/a> to listen. Fans can hear \u201cThere Used to Be Horses Here\u201d now right here<\/a> and pre-order or pre-save the album at this link<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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In its most powerful moments, There Used to Be Horses Here sets Speace\u2019s majestic voice to symphonic arrangements, yet her songwriting remains intimate and emotional. As a fan and friend of the Nashville band The Orphan Brigade, she invited its three members\u2014Neilson Hubbard, Ben Glover, and Joshua Britt\u2014to collaborate as songwriters and co-producers, inspired by their persistent rhythms and sweeping sonic palette. Remembering her vocal sessions, Speace says simply, \u201cWhile I was singing over what those guys were playing, it made me feel like I was flying.\u201d Speace observes that every vocal performance on the album is the first or second take, and that the musicians in the room are finding their way in the moment. The approach sums up her goal as a producer: \u201cYou need to make sure you press \u2018Record\u2019 while musicians are fumbling, because while they\u2019re trying it out is when the magic happens. You should never let anything be perfect.\u201d<\/div>\n
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There Used to Be Horses Here is an album and exhibition of songcrafting that Speace is immensely proud of. \u201cThe best songs I have written have been since my son was born when I thought I was going to lose all creative powers to mothering\u2014and it didn\u2019t happen,\u201d she says. \u201cIt kicked it into high gear and made me think, \u2018I may not have much time left on the planet. Maybe I should just get to the point.\u2019\u201d When There Used to Be Horses Here winds down to its end, listeners will look back over the eleven-song journey to see Speace\u2019s knack for vibrant storytelling and ability to capture hardship in beautiful detail on display; her craft sharper and more meaningful than ever before.<\/div>\n
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There Used to Be Horses Here In Amy\u2019s Words: \u201cA month after I turned 50, I gave birth to my son, Huckleberry. My father was present for the birth and held him within hours. My Dad was 81 years old and we both knew my Dad would not see my son grow up. In the year between my son\u2019s birth and my father\u2019s death, these songs spilled out of me. I grieved in writing. I wanted to illuminate my father and his stories, from the horse farm near his home that was bulldozed to make room for condos (\u201cThere Used To Be Horses Here\u201d) to his memory of a car ride that came back to him in a dream the night before he died (\u201cDown The Trail\u201d) to a photograph found in an old album (\u201cFather\u2019s Day\u201d). I wrote to my son as I nested with him in the morning (\u201cOne Year\u201d, \u201cMother Is A Country\u201d). I sang to our ailing world as the pandemic raged around us (Warren Zevon\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Let Us Get Sick\u201d).<\/div>\n
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There Used to Be Horses Here Tracklisting:<\/div>\n
Down the Trail<\/div>\n
There Used to Be Horses Here<\/div>\n
Hallelujah Train<\/div>\n
Father\u2019s Day<\/div>\n
Grief is a Lonely Land<\/div>\n
One Year<\/div>\n
Give Me Love<\/div>\n
River Rise<\/div>\n
Shotgun Hearts<\/div>\n
Mother is a Country<\/div>\n
Don\u2019t Let Us Get Sick<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amy Speace Captures Deeply Personal Album with The Orphan Brigade, There Used To Be Horses Here Out April 30th; Hear the album\u2019s first single today January 11, 2021 – Nashville, TN – Looking back on a twelve-month span between her son\u2019s first birthday and the loss of her father, award-winning singer and songwriter Amy Speace […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":21635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t