The Smoking Flowers' New Single Premieres At The Bluegrass Situation, Plus New LP Out 6/21

East Nashville underground pioneers The Smoking Flowers (Kim and Scott Collins) have unveiled "Just Out Of Reach," a new single from the band's forthcoming LP Snowball Out Of Hell, due out June 21st. The acoustic Snowball Out of Hell follows 2018's rock-oriented Let's Die Together; both albums will be released together as a deluxe double album digitally and on vinyl. Both albums were conceived during Kim's battle with, and later triumph over, an aggressive form of breast cancer; the cancer is in remission today--Kim only used holistic and alternative methods and adopted a raw food diet (no chemotherapy, no radiation, no hormones). In the wake of this journey, The pair took life by the reins and hit the road in their vintage Volvo 240 station wagon, touring across America and Canada for three years. With this life-altering experience to draw upon and years of intense touring under their belt, the couple then tapped even deeper into their raw rock, punk and folk roots in the composition of Let's Die Together and Snowball Out of Hell. The urgency present in these recordings is undeniable, a true story of love and triumph.

"When we decided to release an acoustic album we felt it was the perfect timing for this 'sad' song," the band told The Bluegrass Situation in its premiere of "Just Out Of Reach." "This song really gives Kim a chance to shine on a country-esque vocal, something she rarely gets to highlight with us primarily being a rock band. Our nature as songwriters is typically to write alone, so when a friend suggested hooking us up to write with Savannah Welch while we were visiting Los Angeles we decided maybe it was time we stepped out of our box and try the co-writing thing. It was a lovely and fairly quick writing session. Honestly, we can't remember how far we even got with the writing with her because we ended up enjoying each other's company and chatted as much as we worked. Savannah is a lovely human." "Just Out Of Reach" follows the release of singles "(Still) Here For You Now," "Let's Get Happy" which features Deer Tick's John McCauley, and the reimagining of Leonard Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel."

LISTEN: "CHELSEA HOTEL"

LISTEN: "LET'S GET HAPPY (ft. JOHN McCAULEY)"

LISTEN: "(STILL) HERE FOR YOU NOW"

WATCH: "HERE 4 U NOW"

With influences that range from Led Zeppelin to Gillian Welch, and The Ramones to Neil Young, The Smoking Flowers' chemistry is palpable as Kim dances between strings and percussion while Scott plays electric and acoustic guitar, and harmonica--she delivers her own sensual, simmering vocals, while his is the voice of a feisty, gin-battered, heart-on-his-sleeve, hardscrabble troubadour. The Collinses, who founded charitable organization The Treasure Chest, continue to be activists and advocates for holistic and alternative medicine and healing. Their music and lives have been and continue to be an influence on many East Nashville artists.

To post a comment, you must register and login.