Today, Mother Hips frontman, Tim Bluhm releases a new single "The Only Solution," recorded in Northern California with producer  Dave Schools  (Widespread Panic's founding member/bassist). Earlier this year, Tim released a Top 50 Americana album entitled  Sorta Surviving where he embraces a second chance and a new appreciation for life after a dangerous speed flying (a more intense version of paragliding) accident.

Tim laments, "I wrote this song maybe to comfort myself, to try and make myself feel good about the path I’ve taken in life. It was originally written in 6/8 and I played it like that many times. This version is in 4/4 with the kick drum played on the upbeats which I think gives the lyrics a more positive tone." Listen to "The Only Solution" here.

More info on Tim + his most recent record, Sorta Surviving :

Recorded and mixed at the Cash Cabin under the guidance of  Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools,  the collection is earnestly authentic and utterly timeless, and it finds Bluhm backed by elder statesmen like  Roe  and  Chrisman  along with younger virtuosos like keyboardist  Jason Crosby  (Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews) and  Jesse Aycock  (Hard Working Americans, Elizabeth Cook).

Indeed, the arrangements on the album are refined and elegant, yet still stripped-down and raw, enabling Bluhm’s warm, easygoing vocals to sit front-and-center as he weaves vivid tales of ordinary men and women facing down hard days and even harder nights. Mixing new originals and reimagined covers, the record pulls from a half-century of American music to craft a thoroughly modern love letter to a bygone era, one that showcases both Bluhm’s deft musical hand and his heartfelt reverence for the genre. “I’ve been a fan of classic country ever since I heard Merle Haggard sing,” reflects Bluhm. “I just admired his voice and storytelling so much, but I never made an album like this before because I figured it would take me at least 20 or 30 years to get good enough.

The songs are character-driven, valuing the visceral over the cerebral, and Bluhm inhabits his narrators with a voice as tough and as pliable as worn-in leather. “It just felt natural for me to sing this way,” he explains. “It was a chance to put away the books and focus more on the everyday rather than the existential, a chance to pull out the guitar and really tell some stories.”

Catch Tim Bluhm on tour:

Aug 3 - Petaluma Music Festival - Petaluma, CA*

Aug 9 - Hodi’s Half Note - Fort Collins, CO*

Aug 10 - Levitt Pavilion Denver - Denver, CO*

Aug 14 - Birch Aquarium of Scripps - La Jolla, CA*

Aug 24 - Old Princeton Landing Public House & Grill - Half Moon Bay, CA*

Sept 6 - June Lake Jam Fest - June Lake, CA*

Sept 7 - Sutter Creek Theatre - Sutter Creek, CA

Sept 10 - The Siren - Morro Bay, CA

Sept 19 - Hopmonk Tavern - Novato, CA

Sept 21 - Tapa Mountain MusicFest - Ojai, CA*

Oct 11 - Sierra Nevada Big Room - Chico, CA*

Oct 12 - Auburn Lodge #7, Independent Order of Odd Fellows - Auburn, CA*

Oct 30 - Sweetwater Music Hall - Mill Valley, CA*

Oct 31 - Sweetwater Music Hall - Mill Valley, CA*

Nov 1 - Lodge Room Highland Park - Los Angeles, CA*

Nov 2 - Pappy & Harriet’s - Pioneertown, CA*

Nov 9 - 3TEN Austin City Limits Live - Austin, TX*

Nov 23 - The Commonwealth Room - Salt Lake City, UT*

Dec 20 - Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA*

Dec 21 - Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA*

Dec 22 - Slim’s - San Francisco, CA*

*With the Mother Hips