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The WDVX Blue Plate Special – 10/12 – The Two Tracks / Rory D’Lasnow
October 12, 2023 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
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American Songwriter has this to say about The Two Tracks: “They avoid many of the cliches and gimmicks that have grown common in the Americana world while still championing a natural, Earth-grown sound. To hear an acoustic quartet reach a level of dynamic and thematic intensity like The Two Tracks do is an immeasurably rewarding experience. It’s pure musicianship, it’s pure excellence, it’s pure Americana.”
Husband and wife Julie and Dave Huebner write songs that traverse the male and female perspective with emotional and natural images of rural American life. The band cares about lyrics, story, and the power of the song, and every arrangement is designed to fully highlight that direct connection between the song and the listener. Hailing from the eastern side of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming, the band has traversed the country bringing their joyful, unique sound to stages big and small, including Americanafest (TN), Deadwood Jam (SD), Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival (CA), MeadowGrass (CO), Albino Skunk Music Festival (SC), Red Ants Pants Music Festival (MT), Millpond Music Festival (CA), Levitt Sioux Falls (SD), LevittAMP Green Bay (WI), Schellraiser Music Festival (NV), Ashley for the Arts (WI), Beartrap Summer Festival (WY), Sioux River Folk Festival (SD), Music on the Mothership (NM), Oystergrass (WY), and The LAWN (CO), to name a few, and opened for artists such as Orville Peck, Eilen Jewell, Kitchen Dwellers, Black Lillies, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades and more. They recently completed their first international trip, traveling to Dubai for performances at the World Expo in the spring of 2022.
Julie’s driving rhythm guitar, on-stage enthusiasm and vocal prowess dance perfectly with Dave’s rich voice and unique cello playing, adding a layer of surprise to the band’s sound. This is complemented wonderfully by the four part harmonies, and rock solid groove filled out by Taylor Phillips on bass and Fernando Serna on drums. All seasoned musicians and good friends, they have knit their passions into a tight band family, and it comes across in their albums and on stage. Their new album “It’s a Complicated Life,” which is their fourth studio album, is alive with vivid poetry. From deeply personal stories such as Julie’s “The Push and The Pull” recounting a divorce and Dave lamenting his mother’s passing in “Momma’s Gone”, to political tales of angst such as “Workingman’s Blues”, to simple reminders that we’re all in this together with “In the Morning’s” lyric “check on your friends please”, the record speaks both to the moment and to the universal human condition.
“It’s a Complicated Life” was recorded over the course of five days at The Tractor Shed in Goodlettsville, TN just outside Nashville. It was produced by Will Kimbrough (Todd Snider, Rodney Crowell), mixed by Trina Shoemaker (Indigo Girls, The Wood Brothers) and engineered by Sean Sullivan (Sturgill Simpson, Molly Tuttle). In addition to the band, the record features Kimbrough on acoustic and electric guitars and the slide variations of both, along with mandolin and Hammond organ. Dave’s brother Eric, an accomplished pianist that performs with the New York Philharmonic, makes a cameo appearance on “Momma’s Gone”.
While “It’s a Complicated Life” paints a rich picture of the rural west, at its heart it is an ode to the human experience; joyful, weary, and bittersweet, buoyed by an unshakable hope for what tomorrow brings. “This is an album about where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going, these are universal stories,” says Dave. “We really hope people find themselves wrapped up in this music much the way we’re wrapped up in our complicated mid-forties, family raising lives.” Sit back, grab yourself a cup of tea – or something a little stronger – and take this record for a spin. You’ll find you’re already a part of the family, bonded by melody and intrigued about what comes next.
Heralded as a “golden-voiced troubadour” and one of the “32 N.J. bands and artists you need to hear in 2022” by NJ.com, Rory D’Lasnow picked up his late father’s guitar upside-down and backwards at the age of six. Despite never turning his guitar right-side up, Rory’s unique contemplative sound has propelled him on to perform at some of the nation’s most distinguished venues and festivals from Mercury Lounge and Rockwood Music Hall in New York, Hotel Cafe and The Viper Room in Los Angeles, and The Atlantic City Beer & Music Festival in his home state of New Jersey.
His penchant for evocative and vulnerable storytelling has earned him international radio airplay, opening slots for The Early November, Knuckle Puck, American Idol Winner Lee DeWyze, Actor/Musician Drake Bell, and John Corabi of Mötley Crüe/The Dead Daisies, and has garnered praise from the likes of American Songwriter, Atwood Magazine, and Rolling Stone India.
His new single “Real” is available on all streaming platforms now.