Since 2007, Lonesome Ace Stringband—John Showman (fiddle), Chris Coole (clawhammer banjo), and Max Malone (upright bass)—have been refining both their instrumental prowess as well as their songcraft together as an ever-evolving, ever-maturing trio. With their latest single, “The Echo,” the band tackles a hard-to-realize truth of living and thinking within an isolated bubble. “This song is about the experience of realizing that you may be basking in the echo of your own tribe,” the group says of the song. “...That although you thought you were too smart to let it happen to you, you’ve nonetheless been funneled into the warm, fuzzy, glow of an information and ideological feedback loop.”
Blending their long-beloved string band sound with a more driving Americana-Rock sound, Lonesome Ace Stringband kick off “The Echo'' with a single, chopping fiddle under the opening verse: “All I can hear is the echo, it’s coming around again / I know just where it’s going and I know just where it’s been.” The tight harmonies of Showman, Coole, and Malone light up the song’s first chorus before bass and fiddle join in, creating a backbeat feel more akin to a thumping drumset than that of the band’s old-time and bluegrass background. Showman’s haunting fiddle break leads into the next, full-band verse. Culminating in a clever vocal round arrangement that mimics the song’s subject, “The Echo'' ends with a swirl of its warning refrain: “The echo sounded so sweet in my ear / Now it’s all I can hear.”
This week, Americana Highways premiered “The Echo,” writing, “This song is gentle and spritely, with plucked strummed violin at the outset and then the song picks up with layers….”
“The Echo” is the latest single from Lonesome Ace Stringband’s brand new album Try To Make It Fly—due out on October 13th. The material on this new release marks not only a reinvigorated, live-on-stage sound but also a venture into more Americana-leaning songwriting on—for the first time in the band’s career—an album full of original songs. “It felt like a place where we could be ourselves as writers and craft music that would fit the genre regardless of what we found ourselves writing about lyrically,” says Showman. Add that to the trio’s already dynamic concoction of fiddle, banjo, and bass, and the results reveal a bright future for the ever-evolving Lonesome Ace Stringband.
Fans can hear “The Echo” by following this link, check out the already-released singles from Try To Make It Fly—“Sweeter Sound,” “Smoke on the Shoulder,” and “Praying For Rain”—at their respective links, and pre-order or pre-save Try To Make It Fly ahead of its October release click here.
Lonesome Ace Stringband will take the stage this weekend at Pickin’ In The Pines Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival in Flagstaff, Arizona, before heading to Nashville, Tennessee, for two AMERICANAFEST showcases. On Tuesday, September 19th, the trio will perform as part of WMOT’s Old Fashioned String Band Showdown at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, and on Thursday, September 21st, they will return to Dee’s for their own showcase set at 4 pm. A full list of Lonesome Ace Stringband tour dates can be found below or at lonesomeace.com/shows.
Try To Make It Fly Tracklist:
Sweeter Sound
Praying For Rain
You’ll Be There
First Frost/Blue Grouse
Midnight Band
Come With Me Tonight
Simply Going Sideways
Crossing The Junction/Deer River
Smoke On The Shoulder
The Echo
Country Mile
Lonesome Ace Number 1
Catch Lonesome Ace Stringband On Tour:
Sept. 15-16 - Flagstaff, AZ - Pickin' In The Pines Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival
Sept. 19 - Nashville, TN - WMOT’s Old Fashioned String Band Showdown at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge
Sept. 21 - Nashville, TN - Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge
Oct. 18 - Cambridge, MA - Club Passim
Oct. 19 - Exeter, NH - The Wood Barn
Oct. 20 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Caffe Lena
Oct. 21 - Brownfield, ME - Stone Mountain Arts Center
Oct. 22 - Greenfield, MA - Hawks & Reed
Oct. 23 - New York, NY - City Vineyard at Pier 26
Oct. 25 - Vienna, VA - Jammin’ Java
Oct. 26 - Oberlin, OH - Music at Riverdog
Oct. 28 - Manitowoc, WI - Sabbatical Brewing Co.
Oct. 29 - Holland, MI - Park Theatre
Oct. 30 - Ann Arbour, MI - The Ark
Nov. 1 - Toronto, ON - The Tranzac Club
Nov. 22 - Edmonton, AB - Northern Bluegrass Circle Music Society
Nov. 23 - Saskatoon, SK - The Bassment
Nov. 24 - Red Deer, AB - The Velvet Olive
Nov. 25 - Calgary, AB - Foothills Bluegrass Circle Music Society
Nov. 27 - Missoula, MT - Longstaff House
Nov. 29 - Sisters, OR - The Belfry
Dec. 1 - Portland, OR - McMenamins White Eagle Saloon & Hotel
Dec. 2 - Seattle, WA - Ballard Homestead
Dec. 3 - Victoria, BC - Victoria Event Centre
Dec. 4 - Vancouver, BC - The Anza Club
Dec. 5 - Oliver, BC - The Oliver Theatre
