There are many reasons why a piece of art pierces your psyche or, in the least, your heart alone, shaping you or making you think or feel in different ways. For me, when it comes to a particular song it oftentimes comes down to the imagery a piece of music casts in my mind. I see, and feel things in cinematic ways and music as words and melody whether in a pervasive or nuanced way gets under my skin. "Blue Ridge State" by indie folk artist Nathan Vincent is one of those songs and early on, my emotions are pushed by Vincent's vocal aesthetic, hushed, intimate and wondering. Besides his storytelling and melodies that feel (in solitary) steeped in a sort of elegant pop motif, the engine that precedes his vocals are rootsy folk guitar that have a particularly bluegrass picking tone. That mode, genre, sort of doesn't match the melodic tones and thus Vincent creates this wonderfully incongruent beauty. This blending of styles is sweeping and surprising and as the downhome feelings get stirred up in dense orchestration you can't help but get swept up.
"Blue Ridge State" is, ultimately, about letting the person you love go. “We spend a lot of time pondering life decisions and where our significant other fits into that overall picture,” says Vincent. “But when we fail to be transparent in our communication with one another, we become disillusioned by our own biased perspective and fail to see them clearly.”
The Official Video is equally moving shot with a small Covid safe crew of DIY filmmakers, Derrick Bills and Austin Moses who shot for three days between Charlotte and Asheville, North Carolina eventually working with Charlotte production company Caravan to bring “Blue Ridge State” to life.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://soundcloud.com/nathanvincentmusic
https://www.instagram.com/nathanvincentlozada/
Indie-folk artist Nathan Vincent released his music video for “Blue Ridge State” on March 5. Shot in the North Carolina mountains last year, the video release follows Vincent’s 2020 EP Cedar and Pine which was hailed as “an emotional indie-folk journey of self-discovery and belonging” by Atwood Magazine. Premiering on The Bluegrass Situation, the visuals for “Blue Ridge State” present a soft, bittersweet glance into letting go the person you love. “We spend a lot of time pondering life decisions and where our significant other fits into that overall picture,” says Vincent. “But when we fail to be transparent in our communication with one another, we become disillusioned by our own biased perspective and fail to see them clearly.”
The music video for “Blue Ridge State” perfectly illustrates the gentle, yet hauntingly honest message behind the song. Vincent says he felt it was important to create a storytelling arc rather than focusing the video on him. With a small, COVID-safe crew of budding filmmakers (Derrick Bills and Austin Moses), Vincent and his team shot the video in three days between Charlotte and Asheville. Bill and Moses joined forces with Charlotte production company Caravan to bring “Blue Ridge State” to life. The visuals of cold winter air paired with the chilling realization of heartbreak highlights Vincent’s ability to skillfully write indie-folk that creates a familiar atmosphere while maintaining a vulnerable quality. “I think it's human nature for us to want to feel like we're romantically known and understood 24/7, “ says Vincent. “But I think the reality of it and what the video shows is that we're often stuck with being half-right, with little pauses we're afraid of sharing with our partner because we're afraid of being misunderstood, and our goals and dreams start to diverge in different directions.”
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