One listen to any song by Atlanta's Blake Rainey will transport you back to the rustic roots of his rural hometown of Cedartown, Georgia...a land forgotten by time and at the core of all Rainey's music.
Mostly known around the Atlanta area for being the frontman of the rock band, The Young Antiques, Rainey is now bearing his soul with the more Americana/roots-rock style of his latest venture, Blake Rainey and His Demons.
Rainey's latest release "The Ambulance Alley Sessions" is a live in-studio (or live in-industrial loft, to be exact) exploitation of his emotionally pitch-perfect live performance skills; an of-the-moment, you-had-to-be-there evening recorded just before the songwriter’s other outfit, The Young Antiques, resurged from nowhere...a resurgence that led Rainey to shelve the recordings for 6 years to make room for the ‘Tiques’ power pop trio comeback.
But time moves on like it does, and the ‘Tiques are again back on hiatus after two albums, a seven-inch, and another round of touring. It’s a much-needed break for the band (who can tally up roughly more than 10 other projects between the members at the moment), and perfect timing to release these near forgotten recordings.
“There was a moment there where no one could find these sessions at all,” laughs Rainey. “I asked everyone involved if they still had a copy, and the usual response was ‘maybe’ or ‘no’. Luckily bassist Joe Foy was able to dig up his copy of the tunes.
“The AA Sessions” are completely live full band arrangements of 'Cold Sunday Blues' and 'Sick Moon'—two songs from my first album that was a really stripped-down affair, and there are also a couple unreleased tunes here that were recorded and written around the same time ('Wounded Songbird' and 'I Would Clean Up My Act For You'),” adds Rainey. “I’ve also included a cover of 'Uncle Tupelo’s Gun' that I made in January 2012. To me, it seemed like a good way to marry the present with the past—and to pick back up where I left off performing under my own name.”
The album features a mixture of current and past Demons: Joe Foy on bass, Jeff Dehner on drums, Michael Goldman on mandolin and slide guitar, Jason O’Donnell on guitar, and Robin Najar and Judson Henry on backing vocals.
Rainey is also currently recording a new full-length album with Tim Delaney (Swimming Pool Q's) and Marlow Sanchez of Atlanta band All Night Drug Prowling Wolves, in which he was also a guitarist. The album is set to be issued sometime in 2013. Two Sheds Records (www.twoshedsrecords.com) will be handling both these releases.
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