“I’m the guy that jumps in the deep end / Find out quick if I’m sinking or swimming,” sings the Steep Canyon Rangers’ newest member Aaron Burdett on their new single “Deep End.” The song, a toe-tapping romp featuring the Rangers’ signature bluegrass-forward sound, sounds like a good-time ode to being carefree, but its origins come from a very specific, real place.
“There were only three weeks between my very first conversation with [Rangers bassist] Barrett [Smith] about auditioning to sing with the Rangers and my finding myself in California on stage at the Hollywood Bowl,” remembers Burdett. “I was there with all the Rangers and Steve Martin and Martin Short, with the LA Philharmonic backing us up as I sang a bluegrass song in front of about 18,000 people. It was quite an initiation.”
After their first three shows with Burdett over July 4th weekend, the band went to a cookout at one of the musician’s houses on Sunday afternoon. “I walked up and knocked on the door and when his wife answered the door I said ‘Hello, I'm Aaron. I'm here for the cookout.’ And she said ‘Oh, you're the guy who jumps in the deep end!’” Burdett started thinking about the song right then and there.
“Deep End” is the latest single from Steep Canyon Rangers’ upcoming album, Morning Shift—due out September 8th on Yep Roc Records. Produced by the distinguished Darrell Scott and engineered by the legendary Dave Sinko, Morning Shift found the Rangers recording their 14th studio album in Bat Cave, North Carolina, at the Inn Bat Cave, a historical refuge settled near a long-forgotten crossroads of Southern Appalachia. This was the perfect space to feel confident in expanding upon that Carolina sound, the perfect runway to let their well-oiled machine do what it does best- craft stories from the ground up, as a unit. “It was like going to recording camp,” said Scott, “We ate together, we stayed at the Inn together the whole time, and we recorded. Going about it that way made for a very organic record. We had a great engineer with Dave Sinko, who could in essence create a studio space in a rustic, historic home.”
Morning Shift also marks the band’s first album with new band member Burdett on guitar and vocals, bringing a soul-stirring element to the Rangers’ mastery of mountain music. Burdett is an award-winning singer-songwriter and a student of folk tradition providing a fresh, emotional context to the Rangers’ songbook.
Fans can check out the premiere on Garden & Gun here, watch the “Deep End” music video today at this link, check out the Rangers’ previously-released single “Hominy Valley” here, and pre-order or pre-save Morning Shift ahead of its September 8th release right here. Steep Canyon Rangers are on tour throughout the summer with a string of dates with longtime collaborators Steve Martin & Martin Short beginning in September. A full list of tour dates can be found below or at steepcanyon.com/tour.
Morning Shift Tracklist:
Hominy Valley
Deep End
Second in Line (Junior)
Old Stone House/Handlebars/Chimney Rock
Harvest Queen
Ghost of Glasgow
Above My Burdens
Birds of Ohio
Alabama Calling
Morning Shift
Fare Thee Well, Carolina Gals
Recommend Me
Catch Steep Canyon Rangers On Tour:
July 13 - Grey Fox - Oak Hill, NY
July 14 - Rams Head - Annapolis, MD
July 15 - Sellersville Theatre - Sellersville, PA
July 16 - Long’s Park - Lancaster, PA
July 21 - Midtown Listening Lawn Outdoor - Grand Rapids, MI
July 22 - Murphy Theatre - Wilmington, OH
Aug. 2 - Denver Botanic Gardens - Denver, CO
Aug. 3 - Aggie Theatre - Fort Collins, CO
Aug. 4 - Matthews Opera House - Spearfish, SD
Aug. 5 - Centerfest - Lewistown, MT
Aug. 12 - Podunk Bluegrass Festival - Goshen, CT
Aug. 13 - Stone Mountain Arts Center - Brownfield, ME
Aug. 18 - North Carolina Museum of Art - Raleigh, NC ^
Aug. 19 - Shenandoah Valley Music Festival - Orkney Springs, VA
Sept. 2 - The Blue Ridge Music Center - Galax, VA
Sept. 8-9 - Mountain Song Festival - Brevard, NC
Sept. 14-16 - Benedum Center for the Performing Arts - Pittsburgh, PA *
Sept. 21 - AmericanaFest - Nashville, TN
Sept. 22-23 - Encore Theater - Las Vegas, NV *
Sept. 28 - Brooks Center for Performing Arts - Clemson, SC
Sept. 29 - Greenfield Lake Amphitheatre - Wilmington, NC
Oct. 13 - Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts - Greensboro, NC *
Oct. 14 - Township Auditorium - Columbia, SC *
Oct. 15 - North Charleston Performing Arts Center - Charleston, SC *
Oct. 26 - Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre - Red Bank, NJ *
Oct. 27 - Academy of Music - Philadelphia, PA *
Oct. 28 - The Lyric Theatre - Baltimore, MD *
Oct. 29 - Altria Theater - Richmond, VA *
Nov. 3 - The Lyric Theatre - Stuart, FL
Nov. 4 - Florida Theatre - Jacksonville, FL
Nov. 5 - Capitol Theatre - Clearwater, FL
Nov. 10 - Merrill Auditorium - Portland, ME *
Nov. 11- Providence Performing Arts Center- Providence, RI *
Nov. 12 - Turning Stone Resort Casino - Verona, NY *
Nov. 30 - Salle Wilfrid Pelletier - Montreal, QC *
Dec. 1-2 - Meridian Hall- Toronto, ON *
^ with Amythyst Kiah
* With Steve Martin & Martin Short
For ticket information, please visit steepcanyon.com/tour.
