Surrender Hill “Straight Into The Light”
Americana Highways presents this premiere of Surrender Hill’s song “Straight Into The Light” from their forthcoming album Wild Country, which is set for release later this year on Blue Betty Records.
The album was recorded at Blue Betty Studio in Ellijay, Georgia and produced by Robin Dean Salmon; mixed by Robin Dean Salmon and Matthew Von Doran; and mastered by Alex McCullough at True East Mastering in Nashville, Tennessee. This song will be available on June 5.
“Straight Into The Light” is Robin Dean Salmon on bass, B3 organ, acoustic guitar and lead vocals; Afton Salmon on background vocals; Matt Crouse on drums; and Matthew Von Doran on lead guitar.
Robert Dean Salmon told us a little about the song, “This song started with a lyric. I don’t usually write words or music separately, but that’s what happened here. I was on a walk, and words were running through my head. The sun hit the path in front of me, and the line, “I walked straight into the light,” popped into my head. By the time the walk was finished, I had a story about someone lost and out of steam, walking through the streets of New York City, heading down a dark alley, seeing someone walk through a door, and following them straight into a whole new reality. It’s a bit of a metaphor for what happened to me when Afton and I got together. I had the words but no melody. I went round and round with several different melodies and had whole arrangements, but nothing was feeling authentic to me. It felt so contrived and really started bumming me out. I did something I never do and programmed a very simple drum beat into my keyboard from the early ’90s and picked up a guitar, and, boom, it all clicked. A completely different melody came busting out. Afton jumped in with her harmony, and later Matthew Von Doran came up with a really killer harmonic electric guitar part. It all really clicked in the studio with a retro-sounding keyboard bit to offset the harmonic guitar. Considering how difficult it was to get this tune started, once it was moving it just fell into place. The drum intro on the recording was never discussed, it was something Mat Crouse did when he sat down to take our first run at the tune. I liked it and kept it. This song has become one of our absolute favorites to play live.”
Build on a rhythmic intro that could have been inspired by the herd of wild horses on the album cover, this song traces an event where the a person walks through the darkness, into an alley, and then, straight into the light. A metaphor for the cyclical patterns in life – sometimes a new life is just around the corner. And it all unfolds over an easygoing musical arrangement.
You can find the music here: https://orcd.co/straightintothelight
Enjoy some of our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Surrender Hill “River of Tears”