Sad Daddy Releases New Album 'Way Up In The Hills'

Today, Arkansas/Texas four-piece roots powerhouse Sad Daddy, comprised of Brian Martin, Joe Sundell, Rebecca Patek, and Melissa Carper, has released their new LP, Way Up In The Hills. The album, which debuted at #1 on the Alt-Country Specialty Chart, was featured at The Boot, Wide Open Country, The Bluegrass Situation, KCRW, and more.

The four members of Sad Daddy, named one of 2022's 12 Artists To Watch by The Nashville Scene, all conspired and united in the Arkansas woods during the sudden spare time of 2020 to create Way Up in the Hills, their third studio effort.

Over a couple of bottles of chocolate milk and a few jugs of whiskey they collaborated, writing and arranging the album's 14 tracks. The collective decided on a down-home, back-to-the-country theme-a reflection on the state of the world and the desire to return to simpler ways and self-sufficiency-goin' way up in the hills and letting the chaos settle.

Engineer Jordan Trotter brought his equipment into the cabin and the band recorded live and in a circle. The feeling of being at a lakeside "home" studio in the serene Arkansas woods was distilled into each verse and a genuine relaxed and good-time vibe purveys the recordings. Sad Daddy explored using unique sounds, recording stomps on the cabin's porch, hamboning, capturing the natural sounds of insects buzzing and bacon sizzling, mouth didgeridoo, handclaps, double clawhammer banjo, and more, along with the foursome's strong vocals and harmonies.

From recounting the freedom of leaving the big city for life in the country on tracks like "Arkansas Bound," extolling the virtues of the world's best breakfast meat in "Bacon," coming to terms with the world's new normal in tracks like "Cold Rain," raising their voices and using their bodies as percussion to make the daily grind more beautiful in "Hangin' Them Clothes On The Line," and more, the convergence of inspiration and interpretation of feeling into sound is a stylistic blend of the very best elements of American Roots Music. Borrowing from the styles of early blues, jazz, and jug bands to early country, folk, old-time, bluegrass, soul, and funk, they combine many influences, creating an indefinable genre of their own.

Listen to the new album here: