Misner & Smith – “Silence of the Sun”
Americana Highways brings you this premiere of Misner & Smith’s song “Silence of the Sun” from the duo’s forthcoming album All is Song, which is scheduled for release on April 12. The album was produced by Misner & Smith and Bruce Kaphan; engineered, recorded, and mixed by Bruce Kaphan at Niagara Falls in Niles, California. It was mastered by David Glasser.
Musicians on “Silence of the Sun” are Sam Misner on vocals, electric guitars, acoustic 12 string and 6 string guitars; Megan Smith on vocals, upright bass, electric bass, harmonium, piano, and mandolin; Dillon Vado on drums, caxixi, tambourine, congas, hand percussion, and vibraphone; and Bruce Kaphan on pedal steel guitar, lap steel guitar, keyboards, hand percussion, and finger cymbals.
Misner & Smith search deeply in their songwriting, and their music is beautiful complex poetry. Indeed, the first line was inspired by Dylan Thomas and the mood was inspired from the feeling of empowerment moving in solidarity with the first Women’s March. Listen to the lovely vocal harmonies and acoustic instruments in an existential slow dance.
This song came from a few different directions. The first line is a nod to one of my favorite Dylan Thomas poems, one that describes how the life force that drives a flower to grow and bloom is the same one that drives our own body and spirit. I was in a low place when I started writing this song, and in a way, I think I was trying to write my way through it. Parts of the melody were inspired by a short instrumental piece we’d written for a theatrical production of “The Grapes of Wrath” years before, so when the tune and arrangement started taking shape and I was working on the lyrics, the song was already sort of steeped in a story about perseverance. – Sam Misner
It also just so happened that this was around the time of the first Women’s March, and we’d taken part in the march in Sacramento, CA. There was something about being in the crowd that day, knowing we were part of an even bigger collective all over the world, that felt profound, and moving, and hopeful in an otherwise dark period of time for many people. It’s a song about discovering that the strength we need to overcome what holds us down is often right there inside us the whole time. – Megan Smith
Find more information here on their website: https://misnerandsmith.com/