Roots rockers Yarn return with Born, Blessed, Grateful, & Alive, out today via 333 Entertainment/Symphonic Distribution, and a slew of new tour dates. Blending alt-country and Americana with thoughtful, sometimes wry lyrics, frontman/songwriter Blake Christiana grapples with aging, loss and change. American Blues Scene writes, "The words and music on 'Born, Blessed, Grateful & Alive' reflect the arc of human experience. Finger-picking and pedal steel riffs run the gamut from loneliness to transports of delight."
Born, Blessed, Grateful, & Alive is a fine return to form, capturing the band's rep as a road-seasoned live band. Along with producer Damian Calcagne, the album brought together Yarn’s rhythm section, Robert Bonhomme and Rick Bugel, along with Mike Robinson and Johnny Grubb (Railroad Earth), Andy Falco (Infamous Stringdusters), Mike Sivilli (Dangermuffin), Heather Hannah, and Elliott Peck (Midnight North).
Standout tracks include the laconic country ballad, “I Want You.” A road song, “Nomad Man,” glitters with ringing finger-picking and soaring steel runs as it evokes the loneliness and solitude of the moving from one place to another, while the soulful “These Words Alone,” with its driving Hammond B3 organ and gospel-inflected harmonies, sonically resembles Van Morrison’s later songs. The rollicking steel guitar on “Down at the Dancehall” introduces a twangy rambler that would be at home on any album by the Flying Burrito Brothers.
“No one has any idea why we're here, what we're supposed to be doing here or what comes next, and there are very few things in this life to connect us to one another, other than the fact that we all don't know these things,” he says. "I like to think our music could be one of the places where we can connect.”
STREAM BORN, BLESSED, GRATEFUL & ALIVE HERE
TOUR DATES:
7.26 - Lincoln Theatre - Raleigh, NC
7.27 - US National Whitewater Center - Charlotte, NC
8.2 - Ting Pavilion - Charlottesville, VA
8.3 - Natty Greene's Brewing Co. - Greensboro, NC
8.4 - Avlfest - Asheville, NC
8.15 - Eddie's Attic - Decatur, GA
8.16 - The Basement Nashville - Nashville, TN
8.17 - Windy Hill Farm - Loudon, TN
8.30 - Rhythm and Roots Festival - Charlestown, RI
8.31 - CaptainScotts LobsterDock - New London, CT
9.1 - Summer Concert Series - Frenchtown, NJ
9.6 - Purple Fiddle - Thomas, WV
9.7 - Purple Fiddle - Thomas, WV
10.1 - Pearl Street Warehouse - Washington, DC
10.2 - The Homestead - Morristown, NJ
10.3 - City Winery NYC - New York, NY
10.4 - New Park Brewing - Hartford, CT
10.5 - City Winery Boston - Boston, MA
10.6 - Vinegrass - Truro, MA
10.24 - The Yarnival - Troy, VA
10.25 - The Yarnival - Troy, VA
10.26 - The Yarnival - Troy, VA
