SAD DADDY’S NEW VIDEO “CHARLIE PICKLE” PREMIERES VIA TWANGVILLE
NEW LP WAY UP IN THE HILLS DUE OUT JANUARY 28TH
Photo: Annemarie Sundell
WATCH: “CHARLIE PICKLE”
Arkansas/Texas four-piece roots powerhouse Sad Daddy has unveiled their hilariously heartwarming new video for “Charlie Pickle,” the lead single from their forthcoming LP, Way Up In The Hills, due out on January 28th. “It’s about an old-timer who just doesn’t care what other people think and is frequently spurred to dance,” says Twangville in the video’s premiere. “It always reminded the band how friends and fans dance at shows. Fiddler Rebecca Patek came up with the idea of having friends send clips of themselves dancing, and as luck would have it Halloween was upon them. The clips were edited together to create the video for Charlie Pickle...If this doesn’t leave you with a smile, you need some serious therapy.”
LISTEN: “CHARLIE PICKLE”
Since 2010, Sad Daddy has traveled down many a road--together and separately--at times focusing on their solo projects and then reuniting for a band project. The four members, Brian Martin, Joe Sundell, Rebecca Patek, and Melissa Carper, all conspired and united in the sudden spare time of 2020 to create their third album, Way Up in the Hills.
They all met up at Brian’s cabin in Greers Ferry, Arkansas, and over a couple of bottles of chocolate milk and a few jugs of whiskey they collaborated, writing and arranging songs specifically for the new album. A first for Sad Daddy, they took the brand-new bones of each other’s ideas and worked on them as a band to construct and finish the songs. The collective decided on a down-home, back-to-the-country theme—a reflection on the state of the world and the desire to go back to simpler ways and self-sufficiency, goin’ way up in the hills and letting the chaos settle.
Engineer Jordan Trotter brought his equipment into the cabin and the band recorded 14 original tunes live and in a circle. The feeling of being at a lakeside "home" studio in the serene Arkansas woods was distilled into sound and a genuine relaxed and good time vibe purveys the recordings. Sad Daddy explored using unique sounds, recording stomps on the cabin’s porch, hamboning, using the natural sounds of insects buzzing and bacon sizzling, mouth didgeridoo, handclaps, double clawhammer banjo, and more, along with the foursome’s strong vocals and harmonies.
With a long and dedicated history of making their audiences happy, Sad Daddy is emerging rejuvenated with Way Up in the Hills. With a more down-home and old-timey feel than their previous albums, they all stretched themselves a bit to create a common theme and new songs together. Unique to Sad Daddy, all of the members sing lead and write original tunes--the convergence of influences and interpretation of feeling into sound is a stylistic blend of the very best elements of American Roots Music. From the sounds of early blues, jazz, and jug bands to early country, folk, old-time, bluegrass, soul, and funk, they combine many influences, creating an indefinable genre of their own.