Sunshone Still to release third album

Sunshone Still lead by singer/songwriter Chris Smith have announced they will release their third album: ThewaytheworldDies on February 7th , 2012 on Potato Eater Records. On the band’s forthcoming album, Smith and the group tackle and explore a tough personal loss.

In the fall of 2010, Sunshone Still’s Chris Smith spent a week alone in the mountains of North Carolina. It was on this trip, in the streets, coffee shops and pathways of Asheville and Cashiers; he began to write the songs for the band’s upcoming third album: ThewaytheworldDies.

It was only a few months prior on July 1st 2010, when Smith lost his only brother to suicide who struggled for years with depression. ThewaytheworldDies searches for resolution in this sobering chronological analysis of his brother’s last years and the aftermath of his death.

In February 2011, after a handful of rehearsals, the band convened at Gastonia, NC’s Old House Studio and recorded the album with chief engineer, Chris Garges. “It was cathartic to return to Gastonia. This is where my brother and I grew up and where we laid him to rest.”

The album begins with “Someone to Call Home.” Baritone guitar and pedal steel (both performed by Rodney Lanier (Jolene/Sea of Cortez)) set a David Lynch-style mood for a story about finding new love in a dark, seedy bar. “After completing basic tracking on “Someone to Call Home”, I recall getting chill bumps when we sat in the control room. I think all of us in the room knew, at that very moment, that we were going to deliver a record people didn’t expect from us. That was a good feeling.”

ThewaytheworldDies doesn’t settle on being defined by one consistent sound as the band uses several styles of sonic exploration to tell his story.

When asked about why the song and album title are written with no spacing, Smith responds, “It’s my subtle homage to songwriters like Tom Waits and Sparklehorse, both of whom produced albums titled with no spacing.”

ThewaytheworldDies follows two previously critically acclaimed albums 2005’s Dead Letters and 2007’s Ten Cent American Novels.

Upon the release of their debut album: Dead Letters, No Depression raved about Smith saying: “[He] has a sound that reflects the work of artists such as Tom Waits, Elliott Smith, and Nick Drake.” Of the album it was hailed as an, “impressive debut…a musical landscape painted in the hushed tones of twilight.”

In 2007, inspired by Hampton Sides’ non-fiction book, Blood and Thunder, Chris researched, wrote, and produced an ambitious 17-track, 66-minute concept album titled Ten Cent American Novels. No Depression described the album as “a fascinating, cinematic musical exercise.” This historical character study centers on Manifest Destiny and the complex life of Kit Carson: his beautiful Arapaho Indian wife, his long-heralded trapping and scouting days, his often-heroic military service, and his ruthless part in rounding up the Navajo Indians for the fatal Long Walk.

ThewaytheworldDies is an impressive and challenging chapter for Sunshone Still. However, yet again it showcases Smith’s immense talents as a songwriter and storyteller.

www.sunshonestill.com