Dualtone Shares New The Lone Bellow and Drew & Ellie Holcomb Covers

Today, beloved Nashville-based indie label Dualtone Music Group released two new covers from their forthcoming 20th anniversary release Amerikinda: 20 Years Of Dualtone. The pair features The Lone Bellow covering Shovels & Rope's "O' Be Joyful" and Drew & Ellie Holcomb covering June Carter Cash's "Keep On The Sunny Side," which were both featured on The Boot.

"We have been fans of Shovels & Rope for a long time," stated The Lone Bellow. "We chose to cover their song 'O' Be Joyful' for this compilation because we love the story and the souring melody. Loved this song since the first time I heard them sing it at Newport!"

"Congrats on 20 years Dualtone," continued Drew & Ellie Holcomb. "Thanks for being one of the most artist friendly labels out there. You have a great team and I am honored to be a part of the family tree. What an honor to cover one of the greatest of American classic songs 'Keep on the Sunny Side,' made famous by the Carter Family. We tried to add some tension to our version, with the the tough, real life lyrics of the verses, juxtaposed with the one of the happiest choruses out there."

Dualtone founder Scott Robinson also spoke with The Boot and recounted his surreal and fateful visit with Johnny and June Carter Cash prior to recording her pivotal GRAMMY Award-winning album Wildwood Flower, which would become one of the label's inaugural releases.

Since announcing the anniversary album last month, Dualtone has shared covers from Gregory Alan Isakov and The Lumineers, which were both featured on NPR's World Cafe, as well as the "fantastic" (Austin American-Statesman) Guy Clark covers from Wild Child and Hayes Carll. Brett Dennen's cover of Langhorne Slim's "Life Is Confusing" is also out now along with Angie McMahon's cover of Oh Pep's "Tea Milk & Honey" and The Wild Reeds' cover of Mt. Joy's "Younger Days," which were both featured by Flood Magazine.

Releasing August 6, Amerikinda features a slew of Dualtone artists and alumni all covering each other's songs in celebration of the label's landmark birthday. Known for their incredible roster of artists who straddle the line between roots and AAA, Dualtone Records was founded in 2001 by Robinson and Dan Herrington, joined soon after by Paul Roper, who quickly established the company as a label that would change the paradigm of what a successful independent model could be. Based around a co-operative approach built on fair, transparent partnerships, Dualtone bred a family atmosphere where artists could effectively build and grow with the label. Their format is now taught in business schools and is considered by many to have helped usher in a new era of more artist-friendly record contracts across the industry.

Inaugural releases from Dualtone included David Ball's Amigo as along with June Carter Cash's Wildwood Flower. As the label grew, they continued to bring in elder statesmen like Guy Clark and Bobby Bare, while at the same time branching out to attract younger indie artists such as Brett Dennen, Shovels & Rope, Drew Holcomb, Noah Gundersen, Langhorne Slim, The Felice Brothers, Delta Spirit, Shakey Graves, Wild Child, Mt. Joy, Amos Lee, Gregory Alan Isakov, Robert Earl Keen, The Lone Bellow, Kathleen Edwards, and The Lumineers.

Looking over the prodigious list of GRAMMY Awards, gold and platinum releases, and luminary artists that have called Dualtone home over the years, you'd be forgiven for expecting a staff of dozens, but the entire office could fit into a 15-passenger tour van (with room to spare). It's this small, tight-knit family that's been responsible for fostering so many influential careers and helping to redefine what's possible for an indie label in the 21st century. Even after a tumultuous 2020, which saw Dualtone HQ in East Nashville leveled by a tornado and a global pandemic hitting within weeks of each other, the label isn't just surviving right now, it's thriving, posting some of its all-time best sales and streaming numbers to date. The trials and tribulations of the past year have laid bare the strength, passion, and creativity that have served as the label's foundation from the beginning.

"From the very start, we've tried to build this safe, encouraging space for artists to experiment and create," said Robinson, "and it's just so cool to see how deeply these bands have connected with each other and to hear the influences and friendships that stretch across the whole history of the label. At the end of the day, there's something special about the energy of Dualtone, and it's not because of me or Paul or any other individual. It's because of the way that everyone, artists and staff alike, come together as a community."

Track List:

01) Wild Child - "My Favorite Picture Of You" (Guy Clark)

02) Mt. Joy - "Ain't No Reason" (Brett Dennen)

03) The Wild Reeds - "Younger Days" (Mt. Joy)

04) Gregory Alan Isakov - "Salt And The Sea" (The Lumineers)

05) The Lumineers - "Caves" (Gregory Alan Isakov)

06) Angie McMahon - "Tea, Milk & Honey" (Oh Pep!)

07) Langhorne Slim - "Stubborn Love" (The Lumineeres)

08) Brett Dennen - "Life Is Confusing" (Langhorne Slim)

09) Drew & Ellie Holcomb - "Keep On The Sunny Side" (June Carter Cash)

10) Ivan & Alyosha - "Let Your Heart Hold Fast" (Fort Atlantic)

11) The Lone Bellow - "O' Be Joyful" (Shovels & Rope)

12) Shakey Graves - "Cheers" (The Wild Reeds)

13) Shovels & Rope - "Dearly Departed" (Shakey Graves)

14) Hayes Carll - "Worry B Gone" (Guy Clark)

15) Radney Foster - "Riding With Private Malone" (David Ball)