Ellijay band wrote, recorded two albums amid COVID lockdown
Like the cowboys and wandering gypsies they sing about, a local band led by a singing, songwriting husband and wife crosses wide terrain on their latest album.
Surrender Hill, the rocking country/Americana group led by Robin Salmon and wife, Afton Seekins Salmon, recently put the finishing shine on Just Another Honky Tonk In A Quiet Western Town, a 24-song collection Robin described as not so much a double concept album, but two stand-alone albums that go together.
“They’re not too far fetched from each other, but they’ve each got their own little voices, so to speak. All the songs fit more into genres and themes, rather than one topic,” he said. “We love the red-dirt, Texas style of country music and the introspective Americana type stuff, too. We play both at our shows, and people are always asking for both, so this is where we get to do two things we’re passionate about.”
Making the most of lockdown
Traveling is a recurring theme on both albums, and the Salmons have done a lot of it since forming Surrender Hill seven years ago. The group normally holds down a busy schedule performing numerous times each week.
With packing up and heading out to play shows off the table for much of last year due to COVID-19 restrictions, the couple used their newfound downtime to create material that appears on the new releases.
“It wasn’t all bad, and I’ve heard that from a lot of musicians. At first, it was kind of driving us crazy, but we’re lucky to live somewhere with a little bit of space to it. After a week or so, we realized it was something completely beyond our control and there was nothing we could do about it. Once that settled in, it was actually liberating in a sense. We couldn’t get all bitter and twisted about not being able to get out and work, (so) we wrote a lot,” said Robin about making the most of the lockdown.
“We wrote introspective stuff on days when we were down or feeling introspective, then we had some manic moments where we just needed to blast something out. When we got to the end of it, we had these two different albums. We figured we can’t really afford to promote two different records, so we’ll put them both out in one package.”
Several Nashville-based musicians lend their talents to the set. Guitarist Mike Waldron has played lead for Lee Ann Womack, Garth Brooks and Martina McBride, while fiddler Kevin Arrowsmith has performed with SheDaisy, Dierks Bentley and The Oak Ridge Boys. Pedal steel guitarist Mike Daly has played the weeping, twangy instrument in the bands of Travis Tritt and Hank Williams Jr., while drummer Matt Crouse has toured with such artists as Mark Selby, Eddy Raven and Billy Dean.
Robin said he and Afton worked on the songs by FaceTiming with their bandmates. Instrumental tracks were recorded either at their homes or studios, and Robin pieced it all together at his own Blue Betty Studio.
What might have first sounded like a less-than-ideal way to record actually produced some great results, he confirmed.
“It was a challenge, but the musicians got to live with the tunes at home,” Robin said. “When you’re working in a studio, it’s a different kind of vibe. Time is money and you’ve got to crank it along. That’s a good thing in some ways because it makes you move into your parts, solidify them and move on. But, with a little time on their hands, these guys got to do some things they wouldn’t ordinarily get to do.”
Just Another Honky Tonk In a Quiet Western Town finds Surrender Hill exploring wide-open spaces where lonesome and not-so-lonesome ballads sit comfortably with twangy barroom rockers, cowboy tunes and love songs. Some of them swagger while others sway, but all are lifted up by Robin and Afton’s vivid songwriting and warm vocal harmonies.
“Most of the tunes that Afton sings on A Quiet Western Town, she began and ran with, and it was the same with a lot of the tunes I sing. There are also some full-blown collaborations, like ‘Heartache Goodbye,’ that we sat down and wrote together. For that one, I wanted to do something with a nice, old Texas country feel,” Robin said.
“They say never start an album with something down and quiet, but I couldn’t help but start Just Another Honky Tonk with ‘Cowboy Campfire Song.’ That one kind of sums up so much of our time last year, just sitting around a campfire playing songs.”
Full band show scheduled
Just Another Honky Tonk In a Quiet Western Town follows A Whole Lot of Freedom, Surrender Hill’s fourth album, which came out just as the statewide lockdown commenced.
“We had a release date of April 3, which was right when the lockdown happened. We actually played our album release show one year later on April 1 of this year,” Robin said.
Fortunately, they won’t have to wait that long to play a show in support of the new recordings. Surrender Hill is scheduled to perform at the George Link Jr. Gilmer Arts Playhouse Saturday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m.
The Salmons often play as a duo at local wineries and other venues, but they’ll be joined by guitarist Jonathan Callicutt and bassist Drew Lawson for the playhouse show. Robin said it will actually be their last full band show this year.
“The rest will be just Afton and I,” he added.
It will also be a local CD release show, as a digital download of the new album isn’t expected to be available till sometime toward year’s end.
“Right now, it’s just the physical release. We have copies to sell, but it won’t be available worldwide till later on,” Robin said.