Claude Carmichael Releases Debut Solo Album TENNESSEE HILL
The Daytime Emmy winner co-produced the eight-song project with Casey Wasner in Leipers Fork, Tennessee.
Americana musician Claude Carmichael has moved from behind the boards to in front of the microphone with Tennessee Hill, his debut solo album, which is available now via his website or streaming platforms. Drawing from influences that range from Guy Clark and Van Morrison to Rodney Crowell and John Hiatt, Carmichael weaves thoughtful observations of life with dashes of humor matched with music that suggests a thinking person's poet.
There's real heartbreak within the tracks of Tennessee Hill held within songs like 'The Bottom of a Well,' which channels the dark humor of Leon Russell's 'Tight Rope' into a song about being flat out depressed and laughing about it anyway, and 'Instead of Me,' built from a friend's line about a divorce that Carmichael originally wrote with a woman's voice in mind (with hopes for just that in a future recording).
Classic honky tonk storytelling can be found in 'Full Time Heartache,' a cheatin' song co-written with Jeanie McQuinn and road tested on a dance floor in Virginia, with Travis Toy's steel guitar pushing it along. And, not to be outdone, is a humor-filled wink at his Tennessee hometown's own transformation in 'Too Many Yankees (Bless Their Hearts),' a true story told with affection by a longtime local who, after spending a third of his life in New York City, is more than qualified to poke fun, especially with a 'Bonafide Yankee' like Casey Wasner co-producing the track.
Tennessee Hill softens into something more personal on 'Precious One,' a lullaby Carmichael wrote for his daughter, and 'The Last Lullaby,' an old fashioned, almost 19th century love song that traces back to a barefoot, overalls-clad serenade he once played beneath a girl's window with a violin he could barely play. The story is now beautifully told on the record with the beautiful playing of violist Audrey Swank.
'Sonia Lee' borrows its title from the name a fellow Nashville songwriter and repurposes it for one of Carmichael's most vivid summer memories. And then there's the title track, 'Tennessee Hill,' the song that gave the record its name and its heart. It's a quiet account of the night Carmichael understood, while driving home from the Bluebird Cafe, that Franklin wasn't a stop along the way anymore. It was home.
Recorded and co-produced by Claude Carmichael and Casey Wasner at Purple House in Leipers Fork, Tennessee, Tennessee Hill is but the latest musical effort in a storied career built largely behind the scenes of the music industry. From early days singing alongside Billy Joel on The Stranger (at producer Phil Ramone's invitation) to award-winning years as a music director, producer and arranger for IMAX film soundtracks and television specials, Tennessee Hill is Claude's years-in-the-making step towards the spotlight with a cohesive collection that is just the beginning of a chapter of music crafted with astute observations by an expert musician at the beginning of a delightful new chapter.
More on Claude Carmichael's career, awards, and film and TV work can be found at www.claudecarmichael.com and www.bigscreenmusic.com
Tennessee Hill Tracklist
Bottom of a Well
Tennessee Hill
Full Time Heartache
Instead of Me
Sonia Lee
Too Many Yankees (Bless Their Hearts)
Precious One
The Last Lullaby
About Claude Carmichael
Claude Carmichael is a singer, songwriter, and producer whose career spans New York session work (Billy Joel, The Bermuda Depths) and environmental/documentary music, including a Daytime Emmy for 'This Island Earth' and IMAX soundtracks with artists like Bonnie Raitt and Paul McCartney. Now settled in Franklin, Tennessee, he released his debut solo album, Tennessee Hill, in 2026.
