Graham And The Band Upstairs are caught between love and regret while walking Home To You in their debut single — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The Atlanta Americana quintet display a knack for old-school authentic on this heartfelt, bittersweet track. This is a band comfortable in their own skin enough to pay tribute to the classics. While the track itself is soothing, soft and welcoming, the lyrics and vocals are like dark clouds of despair, disappointment, disillusionment and depression floating over a tranquil landscape. Which is exactly how singer-guitarist Graham Waldrop wanted it.
“I’ve always liked songs that feature juxtaposition,” he says. “Girl by The Beatles is one of the finest examples of this where the melody and Lennon’s vocals creates this sweet bed of breathing grass that you want to just wrap yourself up in. But when you actually listen to the lyrics you realize that the song is anything but sweet. There’s a bitterness behind the lyricism that creates this incredible contrast with the music.
“That’s what we tried to do with Home To You. We tell a story about someone navigating a complex relationship while Jeff Dei Dolori, our lead guitarist, hooks the audience in with these fantastic, ethereal guitar licks and Veronica Roman, our backing vocalist and I try to evoke a similar sweetness with our vocals. It’s a song I hope has a lot of replay value where someone could hear it one way, listen to it again, and then come away with a completely different perspective on the narrative of the song.”
Graham And The Band Upstairs create music in the tradition of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, combining introspective lyrics with diverse melodies that meshes the folk, blues, and rock genres to create a fully realized sonic identity for each song. Their first record, Turning Magic On Its Heels, bows in the summer of 2023.
Watch the lyric video for Home To You above, listen to the song below, and find Graham And The Band Upstairs at their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
