Critically acclaimed American roots artist The Reverend Shawn Amos has released the debut track "Counting Down The Days" from his forthcoming album with The Brotherhood - a group of masterful musicians that includes drummer Brady Blade (Dave Matthews, Indigo Girls), bassist Christopher Thomas (Norah Jones, Carly Simon, Macy Gray) and longtime Rev guitarist Chris "Doctor" Roberts. The track was featured last week at Glide Magazine, who called it "a blackened riff howl of workmanship blues and Texas boogie that never surrenders." Elmore featured the new lyric video today, saying "this material showcases Shawn Amos's songwriting like no previous Rev outing, alternately furious, vulnerable; crazy, forlorn and tender."
View the "Counting Down The Days" lyric video!
"The story opens in Frisco, TX, but it could be anywhere a person is held against their will or better judgement: a forgotten suburb, a jail cell, anonymously in an unforgiving metropolis," says Amos about the track. "The song begs for escape. It's a song about taking yourself everywhere you go. 'Counting down the days' - a uniquely American proposition that we can always reinvent ourselves. Where optimism, self-delusion, and bravado all meet."
Shawn Amos has been featured on NPR Weekend Edition and ABC News, with accolades from Relix, Purevolume, Elmore and more. Prior to emerging as the Reverend in 2013, Amos made a name for himself as a producer (Solomon Burke's Live in Nashville, and Shout! Factory box set Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy Jones), content creator for companies looking for ways to tell their stories on the internet, and Americana singer-songwriter who'd grown up in a dramatically dysfunctional L.A. home, a story the Rev in his serialized "Cookies & Milk" feature with The Huffington Post.
Unlike past Shawn Amos collaborations with Matthew Sweet and Solomon Burke, The Brotherhood is in it for the long haul. "Everybody feels pride of ownership," the Rev says. The band has already hit the road and will tour through 2020 in support of their forthcoming release.
"These songs are really special to Shawn," says Brady Blade, who previously hosted the Rev's debut album (produced by Mindi Abair) at his Shreveport studio, and laid down drums. "It's up to us whether we're ready to jump in and contribute 150%. If we're not, it's not a brotherhood."
Photo Credit: semaj
Videos