Tejon Street Corner Thieves have been turning heads with a completely unique take on traditional folk and bluegrass music. The self-proclaimed “outlaw blues/trash-grass pioneers” will continue to blaze that trail with new acoustic record Monarch Sessions, due out on Friday, October 16th via Liars Club, the label founded by Amigo the Devil and Regime Music Group.
The Monarch Sessions takes the tortured tunes of Connor O’Neal (banjo/vocals) and Shawn D’Amario (acoustic guitar/vocals) and strips them of their thematic bells and whistles, allowing the lyrical and emotional depth of the material shine through. Today, Live For Live Music is excited to premiere the new video for “Lay Low” from Tejon Street Corner Thieves’ acoustic Monarch Sessions.
As Connor O’Neal tells Live For Live Music about the haunting tune, “‘Lay Low’ describes hopelessness in today’s world. In the midst of a pandemic, the fight to stay afloat despite the odds is more apparent than ever. We’re all in this together and the only way out is to lend one another a helping hand. ‘Lay Low’ is about the underdog and the feeling of powerlessness. A feeling we can only overcome through unity.”
While the song ventures to capture that feeling of hopelessness in our world, it eventually arrives at an epiphany of sorts—not quite a way out of society’s ills, but a grim understanding needed to fix them, a parable for taking your future into your own hands: “Well, the moral of the story is you never find glory long as they’re the ones holding the gun.”
“Monarch Sessions was a perfect opportunity for us to portray the raw emotion of ‘Lay Low’,” O’Neal continues. “The duo style recording and video accompaniment maintains focus on the heavy lyrics and gives insight into our own reaction to the words as we perform. We think that being able to see our own emotions through a lens adds a whole new layer of depth to one of our most turbulent pieces.”
Watch the new acoustic video for “Lay Low” below:
Tejon Street Corner Thieves – “Lay Low” (Acoustic)
The duo has kept plenty busy in 2020 despite the shutdown of regular live events and tours. When forced to cancel their touring plans when the COVID-19 global pandemic hit, Tejon Street Corner Thieves responded by doing drive-by performances to fans’ houses. The band used their tour bus and a P.A system to drive through fan’s neighborhoods and perform from inside the vehicle, while fans take in the concert on their front porch maintaining safe social distances. The performances drew the attention of local and national media. Since then, other bands across America have adopted a similar strategy for performing drive-by concerts in other states and credited Tejon Street Corner Thieves for their original idea.
For more information about Tejon Street Corner Thieves, hit their website here.
The post PREMIERE: Tejon Street Corner Thieves Wrestle With Hopelessness On Acoustic “Lay Low” From ‘Monarch Sessions’ [Video] appeared first on L4LM.
