Today, Mother Hips co-founder Greg Loiacono is premiering "Even Though I Lost," a new song from his August 12 Blue Rose album, Giving It All Away. Recorded at Dave Schools’ (Widespread Panic) California studio, Spacecamp and produced by Scott Hirsch (Hiss Golden Messenger, William Tyler), "Even Though I Lost" will be released on streaming services this Friday, July 22 and can be heard now at Americana Highways HERE. Loiacono shares the inspiration behind the song:
"This track was the last one cut for the new record. We were just about to start breaking down the equipment and as I walked by the electric piano I remembered a little riff and sat down to play it. Michael Urbano was at the drum set and joined in. Slowly, the whole band played along and we started recording. It was an impromptu moment that led to some really fun and energetic takes. The only lyric I had at that point was the chorus line, so I was free associating through the verses. But what came up and what I pieced together were these vignettes that kind of celebrate losses and mistakes. Those moments, no matter how messed up they might be when they are happening, are where the good stories come from.”
LISTEN TO "EVEN THOUGH I LOST HERE + PRE-SAVE HERE
PRE-ORDER THE ALBUM HERE
Loiacono had spent lockdown producing records for other artists and revisiting country and soul music of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and the songs and sounds on Giving It All Away capture that vibe perfectly. He credits Hirsch for pushing him beyond his comfort zone as an artist, forcing him to embrace his falsetto singing voice and write with a clarity and directness he was unaccustomed to.
Working with Hirsch as producer and backed by an all-star band that included drummer Michael Urbano (Sheryl Crow, John Hiatt), organist Danny Eisenberg (Counting Crows, Jonathan Richman), and Schools on bass, Loiacono cut the bulk of the album live on the floor at Schools’ Spacecamp studio in Occidental, California, capturing most tunes in just a few takes each. Though Loiacono would later add vocals at his home studio and solicit remote contributions from horn players and backup singers including the legendary Vicki Randle (Aretha Franklin, Mavis Staples), it’s the energy and the feel of those raw Occidental sessions that lays the groundwork for the album’s amiable atmosphere.
“Recording live was essential because the rhythm section is the centerpiece of these songs,” explains Loiacono. “We knew we had to keep everything feeling groovy and deep in the pocket at all times, even on the slowest songs."
That emphasis on groove is undeniable on Giving It All Away, which sounds straight out of the late ’60s or early ’70s with wide-open drums, buoyant bass lines, and lush organ pads underpinning Loiacono’s gently aching meditations on love, loss, and everything in between. The intoxicating “Can’t Forget” wears its broken heart on its sleeve as a badge of honor, while the doo wop-tinged “Mr. G” grapples with the burning questions that linger long after a relationship has ended. The breezy title track takes solace in the revelation that you can never share your heart too freely. “We’re only living when we’re giving it all away,” Loiacono sings. “You can’t take it with you when you go.
“I remember riding around in the back of my mom’s Chrysler as a kid and she’d be playing this Sade song called ‘Hang On To Your Love,’” says Loiacono. “I always envisioned ‘Giving It All Away’ as a response to that tune. The idea here is that you shouldn’t hang on to your love! You should give it away while you can. Tell the people you care about how important they are to you because life is fragile and tomorrow is never guaranteed. Even if you risk getting hurt by opening yourself up in that way, it’s worth it, because someday you won’t be around to give that love anymore.”
Loiacono’s artful cover choices help reinforce that notion throughout the record, as well. The soulful “You’ll Lose A Good Thing” (originally by Barbara Lynn, though later performed by Freddy Fender) refuses to grow jaded in the face of rejection, while an R&B reinterpretation of The Mother Hips’ “Del Mar Station” transforms bitterness into determination, and the inspired take on Genesis’s “That’s All,” which makes peace with love’s fickle nature.
And in the end, that’s what Giving It All Away is all about. Deep connection requires deep vulnerability, and growth is rarely comfortable. When it comes to love, though, the risks are always worth the reward.
TRACKLISTING
Giving it All Away
Can't Forget
Mister G
What Can I Say
Even Though I Lost
That's All
Love is The Way
Del Mar Station
And Not Cry
You'll Lose a Good thing
TOUR DATES (full band shows):
August 12th- The Sweetwater, Mill Valley, CA
August 13th- Harlow’s Nightclub, Sacramento, CA
August 19th- Michael’s on Main ,Soquel, CA
August 20th- Chico Women’s Club, Chico, CA
