Andrew Grossman, frontman of The North Country, turns his full band into a multi-layered solo project for The Quarantine Sessions. The first offering is “Island”, originally from the 2017 album In Defense of Cosmic Altruism, a mellow ballad given new meaning in our lockdown days. It’s nice to see the reappearance of the logo from the 2015 album There Is Nothing To Fear, and we wish it were true.
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Tag Archives: The North Country
Podcast for January 31st, 2020
Tony sees a classic David Bowie album performed live, while Paul attends a deafening company holiday party.
Tracklisting:
Light Beams – Sacred Scales [Self Help]
Time Is Fire – We Declare [In Pieces]
The North Country – Future Humans [single]
Tim Hicks x The Dirty Church – BNARD [Bullets]
Wicked Sycamore – Break the Barrel [Wright Way Sessions Vol. 1]
Drew Beckman + The Boundary Boys – Blue Ridge Mountain Boy [Blue Horses]
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The North Country – My Understanding
We are firmly on record as suckers for live studio recording videos, when done with skill and care. The North Country‘s chief crooner Andrew Grossman brings both to writing, performing, filming and editing “My Understanding”, a new philosophical musing from the mind behind the new Christmas classic “Don’t Shop Just Love”. This is marked as #1 in Little Room Sessions, and we hope there’s more coming soon.
The North Country – Don’t Quit Your Day Job
Andrew Grossman’s band The North Country continues to evolve and thrive. Today they released “Don’t Quit Your Day Job”, the first single with a brand new lineup that includes Near Northeast’s Austin Blanton, Ms. Fridrich drummer Kirk Kubicek, singer-songwriter Laurel Halsey and Joel Gleiser of My Son Bison. The new music video, filmed of course by the estimable Nigel Lyons, is a fun mishmash of intriguing imagery, including comedian Brittany Carney as a pink haired patriotic figure overly fond of flipping the bird. They’re playing a single release show Sunday June 3rd at Union Stage with Delaware’s Hoochi Coochi and a new band from Baby Bry Bry called Slow Love, so you’re going right?
Holiday Podcast for December 13th, 2017
It’s our Holiday Spunktacular! Paul & Tony celebrate the season with some choice selections of DC holiday music.
Tracklisting:
Andrew Grossman of The North Country – Don’t Shop Just Love [single]
The Harry Bells – Frosty the Snowman [Holidays with the Harry Bells]
Veronneau – River [Snow Time]
Sub-Radio – Holiday Hangover [Holiday Hangover]
Samuel Prather – All I Want For Christmas Is The Funk [A Groove Orchestra Christmas]
Aaron Myers – Love All Year [Snowing In Vegas]
Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers – Merry Christmas Baby [The Spirit of Christmas]
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Subscribe to the Hometown Sounds podcast in Apple Podcasts, Overcast, TuneIn or your favorite podcast app! (and tell a friend too!)
Podcast for November 15th, 2017 feat. Maryjo Mattea
This week special guest Maryjo Mattea drops by to tell us about her new politically-charge single and spin some of her fave DC tracks.
Tracklisting:
Two Dragons and a Cheetah – November 8, 2016 [single]
allthebestkids – DreaMastR [Go Out With A Bang]
Loi Loi – You May Be [Viva La Vulva]
Derek Evry – Thank You Enough [Pop Perspective]
FuzzQueen – Ribbons and Flowers [single]
The North Country – The Last Curtain Call [In Defense of Cosmic Altruism]
Or listen in SoundCloud:
Subscribe to the Hometown Sounds podcast in Apple Podcasts, Overcast, TuneIn or your favorite podcast app! (and tell a friend too!)
The North Country – Island
This weekend the Andrew Grossman fronted band The North Country celebrates the release of their long-simmering third album In Defense Of Cosmic Altruism with an audio-visual experience at St. Stephen’s Church on Saturday night September 30th. Earlier this year NoCo crowdfunded a similar show they called The Garden, and at the direction of their longtime manager Hersch Herschel they brought in legendary music video director Sphinx to film the band performing the psychedelic-tinged 70s soft rock song “Island”. Expect a heavy dose of black light neon beauty and lasers by Zak Forrest to compliment Grossman’s thoughtful songwriting.
If you remember, Hersch Herschel didn’t think highly of NoCo’s last music video. Let’s check in to see his reaction to Sphinx’s creation.
Podcast for August 23rd, 2017
Tony and Paul are back in the game with a look at upcoming #DCmusic pre-orders with the theme Looking Forward!
Tracklisting:
Flex Mathews – Never Change [Hi I’m Flex Mathews]
The North Country – E-Meditation (Forever, Forever) [In Defense Of Cosmic Altruism]
Chain & The Gang – Rome [Experimental Music]
The Effects – Back and Forth [Eyes To The Light]
Phil Adé – No Fear feat. Tate Kobang & Saba Abraha [single]
Sam Cooper & The Sleepwalkers – Monster Heart [charity single]
Or listen in SoundCloud:
Subscribe to the Hometown Sounds podcast in Apple Podcasts, Overcast, TuneIn or your favorite podcast app! (and tell a friend too!)
The North Country – E-Meditation (Forever, Forever)
Andrew Grossman’s ever-evolving pop ensemble The North Country gears up for its third full length album release with a lyric video for the first single “E-Meditation (Forever, Forever)”. If you’re of a certain age (ahem), you probably remember seeing the original 1977 film in this video in school or perhaps at the Air & Space Museum downtown. It’s called Powers of Ten and it’s surprisingly created by Charles & Ray Eames, most famous for the iconic mid-century modern Eames Lounge Chair that’s included in the MOMA’s permanent collection. The film’s 70s “out there” (literally) style is a natural fit for E-Meditation’s repeated lyrics: “I feel the infinite touch / I see the unending everything / I taste the infinite taste / I hear the sweetest melody”. Pre-order In Defense of Cosmic Altruism and get this single in your hot little hands now before it drops on September 29th.
However, not all are happy with how this video turned out. See Grossman’s strategy meeting with long time manager Hersch Herschel below.
Top 3 Videos of 2015 #1: The North Country – The Cross We Bear
Andrew Grossman’s band The North Country released their sophomore album There Is Nothing To Fear in April and boldly challenged the DC music scene to really step up their game. The album expands on the initial folk-rock style with sonic excursions that show Grossman isn’t just one of the best frontmen in DC, but has the songcraft chops to match. The bar is set high with the first song, the catchy and accessible “The Cross We Bear”, and well-known local director Nigel Lyons’s video matches the song perfectly. Cameos from BRNDA’s Leah Gage, the Church Night crew and members of The North Country are fun easter eggs, as is the bookend scene referencing Grossman’s home and DCDIT house venue, Bathtub Republic. It’s ambitious videos like this that tell a story, convey a meaningful message and compliment the music so well that win the year and make doing this job of bringing you the latest and best in DC music worth it. See you in 2016 for more amazing songs, videos and shows!
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