"Sad Daddy do what they do best: mine old-time string music for today's lessons" - The Boot
"Sad Daddy may be just what we need in these troubled times — the friendly foursome’s “down-home, back to the country” approach is sure to soothe your ragged soul." - KCRW
"Way Up In the Hills is a marvelous collection of homegrown goodness that encompasses the spirit of the hills while showcasing avid musicianship and songwriting." - The Jamwich
"An album that embeds itself in your soul" - Americana Highways
“Sad Daddy might be onto something here" - Glide Magazine
"As soon as you hear it, it makes sense that 'Cold Rain' was recorded in a studio out in the wilds of the Arkansas woods, looking out on a lake, breathing in the overwhelming depth and vastness of the American landscape." - Holler.
“Sounds like sunshine” - The Bay Area Reporter
"Layered with jug band wit, boot heels, and the thrill of bacon, Way Up In The Hills eschews the madness and concrete of modernity for hardwood, harmony, and fine songs." - Sound and Soul
"You’re well advised to lose yourself for a brief period and indulge in this meticulously executed and absorbing suite of songs." - Lonesome Highway
"Now, that's some blazing bluegrass!" - Last Day Deaf
"The record is a master class in old-timey, bluegrass sound, especially the vocal harmonies. The song themes cluster around escaping back to the country and living the simple life...Although all four members are certainly capable of laying down fast-paced licks, they left some nice white space on many of the tunes. That generated a laid-back feel that really reflects a few days spent with friends up in the hills." - Twangville
"...a down-home rustic and raw kind of sound" - Americana-UK
"...an old time Americana sound that is exactly what helped us fall in love with the genre years ago...a perfect blend" - Ear To The Ground
"Classic American roots music that you're simply going to love" - If It’s Too Loud
LISTEN: WAY UP IN THE HILLS
Today, Arkansas/Texas four-piece roots powerhouse Sad Daddy, comprised of Brian Martin, Joe Sundell, Rebecca Patek, and Melissa Carper, has released their new LP, Way Up In The Hills. The album, which debuted at #1 on the Alt-Country Specialty Chart, was featured at The Boot, Wide Open Country, The Bluegrass Situation, KCRW, and more. The four members of Sad Daddy, named one of 2022’s 12 Artists To Watch by The Nashville Scene, all conspired and united in the Arkansas woods during the sudden spare time of 2020 to create Way Up in the Hills, their third studio effort.
Over a couple of bottles of chocolate milk and a few jugs of whiskey they collaborated, writing and arranging the album’s 14 tracks. The collective decided on a down-home, back-to-the-country theme—a reflection on the state of the world and the desire to return to simpler ways and self-sufficiency–goin’ way up in the hills and letting the chaos settle.
WATCH: “ARKANSAS BOUND”
WATCH: “CHARLIE PICKLE”
Engineer Jordan Trotter brought his equipment into the cabin and the band recorded live and in a circle. The feeling of being at a lakeside "home" studio in the serene Arkansas woods was distilled into each verse 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, capturing 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.
From recounting the freedom of leaving the big city for life in the country on tracks like “Arkansas Bound,” extolling the virtues of the world’s best breakfast meat in “Bacon,” coming to terms with the world’s new normal in tracks like “Cold Rain,” raising their voices and using their bodies as percussion to make the daily grind more beautiful in “Hangin’ Them Clothes On The Line,” and more, the convergence of inspiration and interpretation of feeling into sound is a stylistic blend of the very best elements of American Roots Music. Borrowing from the styles 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.
WAY UP IN THE HILLS TRACKLIST
Arkansas Bound
Bacon
Big River
Live Real Lean
Cold Rain
Charlie Pickle
Hangin' Them Clothes on the Line
Make it Roll
Up in the Hills
Sunday Evening
Back in Arkansas
Poor Man's Son
Wild Road
Arkansas Bound Reprise
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