It’s no secret that Nashville has a rich, rich musical history. Here to offer a modern take on life in Tennessee, Briston Maroney’s latest EP Indiana is a body of work embedded with silken vocals, astute songwriting and gravitating guitars.
Now gearing up to play a string of UK dates later this year, here the singer takes us through Indiana, track by track.
‘Small Talk’
What a doozy of a track! I wrote this song unintentionally after running in to an ex on my way to try and write some songs with my friend Lexi of Loveyoulater. I got to Lexi's house probably an hour after the interaction, told her I was gonna sit in her room alone for 15 minutes and try an idea that I had on the way over and out came this song that quite literally recounts the conversation I had at the coffee shop. That’s some Nashville absurd shit if I have ever seen it.
‘Caroline’
The first few verses of this song were written in the parking lot of Nashville's East Room after a show I had watched there. It was inspired by a young girl I saw standing in the front row, wide eyed and enthralled to be as close as she was to live music, much like how I spent the ages 12-16. It was a beautiful sight and I wanted to write something dedicated to her and every kid who falls in love with music the way I did, an affirmation that it is ok to give yourself wholeheartedly to something you care about.
‘Fools Gold’
Teen angst disguised in well mic’ed acoustic guitars and synthesizers! This was one of the first songs I wrote when I moved back to Nashville after living in Florida with my family for a few months to get my feet under me again. I spent the entire 3 months I was there building up all of the wonderful experiences I would have in Nashville up in my head, and upon getting there was crazy let down by how human everyone was. It’s specifically about one party thrown at my house in which some guy was hammered talking about getting wasted last 4th of July and I thought it was sad and funny and too real. Some guy ate all of my cereal from the pantry with his bare hands that night also. Pretty fucked.
‘St. Augustine’
‘St. Augustine’ was written in a friend's living room after a day we spent together doing nothing other than eating and watching college baseball. It was one of the best days I'd had in a long time, and for some reason it made me so sad to realize that all along the answer to my happiness was just honesty, friendship, and baseball.
Catch Briston Maroney live this autumn when the singer plays the following dates:
OCTOBER
24 - Bristol, Rough Trade
25 - Manchester, The Deaf Institute
26 - Glasgow, The Hug and Pint
27 - Leeds, Community Room at Brudenell Social Club
28 - London, The Lexington
30 - Brighton, The Hope and Ruin
