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Nashvillains: ‘Tumbling Down’ – Album Review

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Nashvillains debut album, Tumbling Down is out now, March 4th on all streaming platforms. Listen to the new album below.

Nashvillains are an act you are going to want to remember! Comprised of Troy Johnson, Scott Lindsey, and Brett Boyett, the trio just released their debut record. The country-rock album, Tumbling Down is out now.

Chock-full of incredible songs, Tumbling Down is one of the most unique records out there right now. Unlike most records in the country genre, the album is meant to be listened to from start to finish. According to the band members, “It’s a concept album, so there’s an overall story and an arc to the entire album, so each song relates to the next one.” Band member, Lindsey adds, “Our original inspiration was to tell a story about a man that has made bad decisions that have sent his life into a downward spiral. In three simple words, the album is beautiful, dramatic, and classic.”

The record kicks off with the track, “Devil Don’t Sleep.” The song depicts the struggles the protagonist is going through – feeling like a song straight out of a movie. The album progresses to the next two songs, “Standing In The Fire” and the title track and lead single, “Tumbling Down.” The former is an eerie slow burn. Johnson’s vocals are haunting in the best way possible. Similarly, “Tumbling Down” is a ballad that depicts the depths a person can fall to. Additionally, the instrumentation on this song is a darker version of more traditional country music.

“Every road is just a lonely old blacktop // Heading someplace you’ve already been // Pound of dust on your shoes // Sunburn on your neck // And memories in your head you can’t forget // Oooh oooh ooh”

The Nashvillains continue to play with the instrumentation on the groovy, blues-heavy, “Baby Keeps Killing Me.” On “Bonita,” the group members introduce a gothic, yet Latin flair to their already enticing project.

The band members continue to play with their songs both melodically and sonically on “There To Catch Me” and “Love Is Pain.” The former brings it back to traditional country music, while keeping the dark and deep guitars throughout the rhythm. The latter broadens the rock music elements of the record.

The album concludes with “Chickasaw Bayou” and “Don’t Let Me Hang.” On “Chickasaw Bayou,” the Nashvillains’ declare an end to the suffering expressed throughout the tracks before. “Don’t Let Me Hang” is a plea to God to bring salvation and end to the suffering. Although dark, the song is the perfect way to end the cohesive and incredible story that unfolded throughout the record.

Overall the Nashvillains debut record is a unique masterpiece. The trio managed to create a project that is delightfully unlike anything else in the genre right now. The instrumentation, the lyrics, the story-telling, and the relatability are all top-notch. Congrats to Nashvillains on their killer debut!

Tumbling Down Tracklist:

  1. “Devil Don’t Sleep” (Troy Johnson, Scott Lindsey, and Brett Boyett)
  2. “Standing In The Fire” (Troy Johnson, Scott Lindsey, Brett Boyett)
  3. “Tumbling Down” (Troy Johnson, Scott Lindsey, Brett Boyett)
  4. “Baby Keeps Killing Me” (Troy Johnson, Scott Lindsey, Brett Boyett)
  5.  “Bonita” (Troy Johnson, Scott Lindsey, Brett Boyett)
  6. “There To Catch Me” (Troy Johnson, Scott Lindsey, Brett Boyett)
  7. Love Is Pain” (Troy Johnson, Scott Lindsey, Brett Boyett)
  8. “Chickasaw Bayou” (Troy Johnson, Scott Lindsey, Brett Boyett)
  9. “Don’t Let Me Hang” (Troy Johnson, Scott Lindsey, Brett Boyett)
Nashvillains-new-album

Nashvillains debut album, ‘Tumbling Down’ is out now.

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news about upcoming Nashvillains’ announcements and releases.

To keep up with Nashvillains, follow them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Tumbling Down is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.

who-are-nashvillains

Who Are the Nashvillains? The Story Behind Their Journey to Country Music

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Who Are the Nashvillains? The country-rock trio joined us to chat about their journey to country music. Get to know the rising stars here…

who-are-nashvillains

Nashvillains // Photo credit: Annie Noelker

The Beginning:

Today our spotlight shines on one of the most unique acts in country music right now. The Nashvillains, comprised of three incredible musicians, Troy Johnson, Brett Boyett, and Scott Lindsey are a band you are going to want to know about ASAP. The trio is a true gift to music fans.

Johnson, Boyett, and Scott were all primed for success in the music industry at an early age. They all lived full and prosperous lives, prior to forming their band. Nashvillains’ lead singer, Johnson has been playing music all his life. “I have always done it since the age of 5, I kind of woke up singing and I just haven’t stopped. Music has always been the trajectory of my life.” The singer headed to Belmont University in Nashville for college and has been cutting his teeth in the industry since.

Scott also attended Belmont University around the same time. “I’m originally from a place called Beaver Dam, Kentucky, in the heart of bluegrass music,” shared the band member. “I was raised on music and I thought everyone played music, baseball, and basketball growing up.” Scott grew up heading to writes in Nashville with his father, as well as, playing gigs at honky-tonks in music city at as early as sixteen.

Nashvillains’ guitar player and record producer, Boyett got his start in his home state of Colorado. The artist even studied classical guitar, when he attended college in Texas. “I was playing the country circuit in Texas and I was writing songs and he encouraged me to move to Nashville,” shared Boyett about the encouragement he got from George Jones’ bass player. The artist also played in a rock band in New York City, but it was in Los Angeles, where he really honed his skills as a composer and as a songwriter.

Boyett’s faithful move to LA, where he worked on shows like Reba and wrote and produced, the highly-acclaimed feature ‘Forever My Girl’, was the start of the Nashvillains. He just did not know it yet!

The Turning Point:

While working on Forever My Girl, Boyett hired Johnson to sing the demos and background vocals. The two immediately bonded and formed a working friendship. Boyett also was introduced to Scott, during the same time in his life. “We hit it off and I started talking about how I was moving back to Nashville and I wanted to work with this singer I had been using for demos, Troy Johnson, and he was like, ‘oh yeah, I know Troy. We write for the same publishing company.'”

As it turned out, both Scott and Johnson had offices across the hall from one another at the publishing company and knew each other well. After the trio all became friends, Boyett finally pitched his idea of the Nashvillains to the men. “I had this idea of the Nashvillains, this kind of dark, country, cinematic country thing and we all got together,” shared Boyett.

After some convincing, both Scott and Johnson were on board, and the trio that is Nashvillains was born.

Today:

Fans can look forward to the Nashvillains debut album Tumbling Down coming out this Friday, March 4th. “I think that our uniqueness comes from the fact that we actually did draw from each other’s unique backgrounds,” shared the trio. “There’s a lot of different influences in this band. We all three have such diverse backgrounds with where we are from and the music we grew up on.”

The record is a complete concept album that is a unique conglomerate of everything that makes the trio mesh together effortlessly.“We’re all kinda musicologists in a sense that we get all the genres, but we each have a different proclivity to play. And I think because of that a push and pull that’s what creates the [Nashvillains.]”

Tumbling Down is both unique and relatable, begging listeners to listen to the project from start to finish. “One of the coolest things about this is that people should listen to the album from start to finish. It’s a concept album, so there’s an overall story and an arc to the entire album, so each song relates to the next one,” begins the band. “We hadn’t heard of anyone else doing that in country music, so we thought that might be a really cool approach to take with this and we had a pretty good story that we thought would work and we kind of wrote around that.”

Fans can also anticipate unique instrumentation to go along with the rock-country vibes of the upcoming project.“I think we’ve really embodied the name ‘Nashvillains.’ We’re definitely country and we’re definitely based in Nashville, but we sort of have a skewed view of what the Nashvillains sound is and we can kinda explore.”

Country music fans can look forward to the trio supporting the record with tour dates in the upcoming months. Until then, make sure you check back this Friday for our full review of the record!

Connect:

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news about upcoming Nashvillains announcements and releases.

To keep up with Nashvillains, follow them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

“Tumbling Down” is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.