Sad Daddy Releases New Single 'Arkansas Bound'

Arkansas/Texas four-piece rustic roots powerhouse Sad Daddy has released "Arkansas Bound," the newest track and its accompanying performance video from their forthcoming LP, Way Up In The Hills, due out on January 28th.

"'Arkansas Bound' was inspired by living in the big city and longing to go back to a slower pace of life in the country, surrounded by nature," band bassist Melissa Carper, who wrote and sings lead on the track, explained to The Bluegrass Situation. "I was making a lot of trips from Austin, Texas, back to Arkansas at the time and once I would hit those winding country roads in the Ozark Mountains, a sense of relief would come over me. I've been drawn to cities to find the inspiration of various music communities but I really have never loved living in a city. I have spent a good deal of time in and around Eureka Springs, Arkansas, which is a tiny town in Northwest Arkansas, in the Ozarks. There is something about the country there that keeps drawing me back in."

"The video was filmed in Greers Ferry, Arkansas, on the boat dock at Brian's cabin," she continued. "We reunited at the cabin to make some videos and he had a couple friends visiting. Besides the band, the video features fisherman Madewell and dogs Georgia Peach and Rooster. Sadly, Rooster has passed away since we filmed."

"Arkansas Bound" follows "Cold Rain," a yearning song about navigating our new normal which Holler. called a "simple and strangely uplifting song for simpler times that sounds like the soundtrack to the pre-apocalypse." Both follow lead single "Charlie Pickle," a foot-stomping tune about an old-timer who just wants to dance and doesn't care what others think about it, and its accompanying hilariously heartwarming video made of band- and fan-sourced footage.

Since 2010, Sad Daddy has traveled down many a road--together and separately--at times focusing on their solo projects and then reuniting for a band project. The four members, Brian Martin, Joe Sundell, Rebecca Patek, and Melissa Carper, all conspired and united in the sudden spare time of 2020 to create their third album, Way Up in the Hills.

They all met at Brian's cabin in Greers Ferry, Arkansas, and over a couple of bottles of chocolate milk and a few jugs of whiskey they collaborated, writing and arranging songs specifically for the new album. A first for Sad Daddy, they took the brand-new bones of each other's ideas and worked on them as a band to construct and finish the songs. The collective decided on a down-home, back-to-the-country theme-a reflection on the state of the world and the desire to go back 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 14 original tunes live and in a circle. The feeling of being at a lakeside "home" studio in the serene Arkansas woods was distilled into sound 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, using 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.

Unique to Sad Daddy, all of the members sing lead and write original tunes--the convergence of influences and interpretation of feeling into sound is a stylistic blend of the very best elements of American Roots Music. From the sounds 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 single here:

Photo: Melissa Brawner