Culture Collide unveiled "Ain't No Way," the soulful new single from Nashville-based popicana duo FREDDY & FRANCINE (Bianca Caruso and Lee Ferris). The song is featured on their forthcoming EP Moonless Night produced by Dan Knobler (Lake Street Dive) due out September 7th, and follows their groovetastic lead single "Half A Mind," which premiered last month via Billboard.
"Combining folk, pop and Americana (although they'll say these genres don't totally apply), the two imbue their music with a sense of wisdom that only comes from really doing what you love. And it's paid off..." Culture Collide remarks of the band. After a three-year hiatus, the pair is coming back strong with a move from Los Angeles to Nashville and the new EP. "We've been a band for about 10 years," Ferris, who appeared as Carl Perkins in the musical Million Dollar Quartet, told Billboard, "but with that three-year gap we re-collected and have just been making our lives and making our living doing music for the past four or five years. It's what we like doing best." Moonless Night, their third EP, is a stylistic step forward--diverse but still rooted in the Americana realm where they've staked their musical claim. The tracks housed on Moonless Night are more intimately portrayed, a sound closer to the duo's live performances. But don't call it folk music--it's too energetic.
"'Ain't No Way' is about the point of no return in an artist's career," explains Caruso told Culture Collide. "It was inspired by a friend of ours who almost entirely left his music career behind to take on the far more stable life of computer programming. We have struggled for years with the vast challenges inherent in making a life from our music. However, a few records ago we decided that we had built too much and grown too positively as people to go back and attempt a different path. This song is a mantra for us and an anthem for anyone who has embarked on a creative life. It is a bold call to never give up on these dreams. We feel this message is especially poignant in today's socio-political climate as the arts and artists are being more marginalized. We see sharing creative expression as vital to the human experience."
Freddy & Francine, who have recently completed a tour with roots rock icon JJ Grey, will celebrate the release of the album and kick off their upcoming tour with a show on Aug. 29 at The Troubadour in Los Angeles.
TOUR DATES:
8/29 - Troubadour (Doug Weston's Troubadour Tavern) -Los Angeles, CA
8/31 - The Firefly Lounge - Bellingham, WA
9/1 - Block Party Festival - Prosser, WA
9/2 - Oak Harbor Festival - Oak Harbor, WA
9/4 - Barboza - Seattle, WA
9/5 - White Eagle - Portland, OR
9/7-9/9 - Sisters Folk Festival - Sisters, OR
9/15 - Lake City Wine & Music Festival - Lake City, CO
9/23 - City Winery Lounge - Nashville, TN
9/28 - Suncoast Songwriter Weekend - St. Petersburg, FL
10/4 - Space - Evanston, IL
10/13 - Mercury Lounge - New York, NY
10/25 - Ironwood Stage & Grill - Calgary, AB
10/26 - New Moon Folk Club - Saskatoon, SK
11/17 - Higher Ground - Souther Burlington, VT*
12/2 - The Repertory Theatre - Santa Rosa Beach, FL
12/28 - Sheridan Opera House - Telluride, CO
* supporting Carbon Leaf
Photo Credit: Freddy & Francine
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