Stephen Kellogg
Recorded literally “all over the map”, the premise of “South, West, North, East” was to record each section of the album in a different region of the USA, with different co-producers and different groups of musicians. “I’ve never felt that the genre was as important as the message and making the record this way was a chance to really explore that idea.” The end result is a collection of 20 songs that defy categorization. The Southern rock flavor of “South” (recorded in Nashville and Atlanta) slides into the cowboy motif of “West” (recorded on a farm in Boulder, CO); and the more indie rock feel of “North” (recorded in a cabin in Woodstock, NY) gives way to the songwriter pop of “East” (recorded in Washington DC). “You often hear about the importance of ‘picking a lane’ and while I completely understand the marketing savvy and focus of that concept, I picked my lane a long time ago; it’s called the ‘words that describe what I believe to be true’ lane.”