Buried Treasure, July 17

by Annie Parnell, Editor

Hey y’all,

I’m taking a much-needed weekend at home with my family this week, and very excited for all the home-cooked Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine coming my way. Yesterday, I drove up through the mountains while blasting “Colorado” by the Flying Burrito Brothers. Absolutely idyllic.

I’ve got a nice little crop of stuff to offer today from indie folk artist Burr Oak, roots rocker Larissa Tandy, and the classic swinging country of Drew Beckman and the Boundary Boys. After putting the list together, I realized all these songs are, in their own way, about starting over — each one takes a particular relationship phase change and runs with it, creating a really spectacular array. I know I, for one, have some big changes coming soon. Maybe you do, too, so here’s to fresh starts and new beginnings.

Hope you’re all staying healthy and hydrated,

Annie

“Southsider” — Burr Oak

Chicago-based Burr Oak (Savanna Dickhut) recently released this single as a precursor to her upcoming debut album Late Bloomer. Well-suited for fans of Magnolia Electric Co. and Mount Eerie, it’s a steadily-building ode to recovering from a lost relationship, the disorienting process of getting over an ex and “trying to devise a plan” where they “don’t fit in too much.” The cathartic way this phrase repeats over plaintive, grinding guitars and ultimately evolves over the course of the song will leave you cheering.

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“Drive” — Larissa Tandy

Larissa Tandy takes cues from Nashville, Memphis, and fellow Aussie Courtney Barnett in this upbeat anthem about leaving behind an unhealthy relationship and hitting the road. “I’d rather be alone than afraid,” they sing as a child gets behind the wheel of a car in the whimsical new music video, taking off with a suitcase and a dog in tow. It’s a witty, Moonrise Kingdom-influenced interpretation of the song that physicalizes the rebirth of ditching someone who makes you feel like “a passenger in your own life.”

“Blue Ridge Mountain Boy” — Drew Beckman and the Boundary Boys

This one has been kicking around for a little while, but ever since the Country Queers of the Mid-Atlantic piece ran, I’ve found it impossible to get it out of my head. Drew Beckman looks like a cross between Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers, and his classic country fits that to a T. This song deals with the pain of a secret relationship, and builds gloriously from Beckman’s voice to swinging guitars, pelting drums, and belting backing vocals from the Boundary Boys (say that three times fast). My personal soft spot for the Blue Ridge Mountains makes it even better.

“Buried Treasure” is your weekly guide to under-the-radar queer artists in country, Americana, and folk. Know an artist who should be included? Contact us!