Josiah & The Bonnevilles homeland of Tennessee is warm in the summertime — not solely in temperature, but in the treatment you receive from its denizens. This playlist, curated by the band, feels torn from the pages of that region, as Heartland Rock and Folk take you through the inspiration behind Cold Blood, their newest record. Listening to their music, you can hear the influence of the artists featured — the twang of Dylan’s guitar, the energy of Tom Petty. Listen below to feel transported, and if you can’t make it to Tennessee this summer, you can see Josiah & the Bonnevilles live at Mercury Lounge on 6/13.
Playlist
Bob Dylan – “Highway 61 Revisited”
Love how much the drums push and pull throughout the song. We did most of our album without a click.
Leonard Cohen – “Suzanne”
The female vocals in a lot of Cohen’s early work made us know we wanted female backing vox on our record.
Kurt Vonnegut – Slaughterhouse 5
We’re starting a band book club when we go out on the road, and this is the first mandatory read. Vonnegut’s writing style definitely influenced the songwriting on our record.
Neil Young – “Out On the Weekend”
As a 3-piece, we’ve been limited in what we can do rhythmically. The drums in this song are so unbelievably simple, but fit the song perfectly.
Bob Dylan – “Visions of Johanna”
Blonde on Blonde really shaped our approach to making this record. A lot of times the band falls into the cut randomly, and nothing is overthought.
Harry Nilsson – “Everybody’s Talkin'”
This is the best song ever written (even though it wasn’t written by Nilsson).
Tom Petty – “Runnin’ Down A Dream”
Adding The Bonnevilles was a conscious effort to make more in-depth arrangements, and TP&THs are an obvious jumping off point.
Bruce Springsteen – “Atlantic City”
This is the Boss’ ode to where he’s from, and a lyrical theme throughout our record is Appalachia/Tennessee.
Elliott Smith – “Waltz #2”
Elliott had some of the best arrangements to go along with his unmatched songwriting and playing.
Radiohead – “Just”
We’re all huge Radiohead fans, and in some way their work affects everything we write/play.