Trespass Music is pleased to release Bruce T. Carroll's new album, his third, "First Bird To Sing" to worldwide radio on September 1, 2021. The album follows the release of two recently released, well-received singles, "Nobody Knows" and "Grandfather Walks."
In the short span of only five years, Bruce has written, recorded, and released three albums: Ruckus and Romance (2016), Finding You (2018), and now, First Bird To Sing (Sept, 2021)! Throw in the 2020 release of his inspirational single Lift Your Head Up, and you have a body of quality work.
Bruce T Carroll - First Bird To Sing Connecticut | AAA | Americana | Folk Rock | Folk
Release Date September 1, 2021
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ABOUT THE ALBUM
The First Bird To Sing….. I’ve been carrying this song around with me for 40 years, since the unexpected passing of my brother by his own hand during a tortured adolescence that carried him, in a flood of drugs and alcohol, to the shores of self-annihilation. That same flood carried me in the same direction for ten years thereafter, through three hospitalizations, a ruined career, a failed marriage and a damaged family, until, by the grace of God, in 1991, I washed up on a different shore, in a different land (metaphorically speaking), and set about putting my life in order. I have mostly succeeded, though certainly not without difficulty.
This album, though on balance more personal than political, was conceived and largely written during the first year of the pandemic and the Great Election of 2020, and so has an unavoidable political tinge in places. Some of it, notably the songs Nobody Knows and Don’t Take Love Lightly, were written during my trips back and forth to PA and GA in late 2020 and early 2021 while working on the ground to unseat the atavists that sought to continue their rule. Some of it was written after losing my mother, my greatest friend and inspiration, the indomitable spirit who was Francine Arlette Bouillon Carroll, at the ripe old age of 99, in June 2020. I dedicate this album to her. And to resisters everywhere.
Thanks to all these fine musicians who participated in the making of this album: Sara Milonovich, Brandon Morrison, Will Bryant, Lee Falco, Connor Kennedy, Andy Stack, Marc Shulman, Tommy Mandel, Gary Schreiner, Jay Collins, Chris Pasin, and Carla Springer…
Thanks always to my friends and musical amigos David Ray, Tommy Mandel, Miles East, Al Hemberger, Nicole Alifante, and Marc Shulman…
Thanks to the many who have supported my music with kindness and words of encouragement and support over the years.
I listen each morning, as always, for the First Bird To Sing…
ABOUT THE SONGS - Focus Tracks in RED
1. Nobody Knows: (4:46) A song written while on the road last year reconciling the real life struggles of many Americans with the vast wealth and physical beauty of this country, and the juxtaposition of the “inner life” of those who struggle with the outer, more superficial, or “worldly” concerns.
CREDITS - Bruce T Carroll (BTCSongs/ASCAP) ISRC - QZEQ32100305
Acoustic Guitar/Lead Vocal: Bruce T Carroll, Drums/Perc/Vocals: Lee Falco, Bass/Vocals: Brandon Morrison, Piano/Organ/Glockenspiel/Vocals: Will Bryant, Electric Guitars: Connor Kennedy, Violin: Sara Milonovich
2. What’s The Rush: (3:10) A fanciful look at life and love, an appreciation of a more relaxed approach to things, and the hint of a heaven on earth..
CREDITS - Bruce T Carroll (BTCSongs/ASCAP) ISRC - QZEQ32100306
Acoustic Guitar/Lead & Bg Vocals: Bruce T Carroll, Drums/Percussion: Lee Falco, Bass: Brandon Morrison, Piano/Mandolin: Will Bryant, Electric Guitars: Connor Kennedy, Violin: Sara Milonovich
3. First Bird To Sing: (4:09) A song written after the death by suicide of my teenage brother many years ago, and the feeling that he returns on occasion, in different form.
CREDITS - Bruce T Carroll (BTCSongs/ASCAP) ISRC - QZEQ32100307
Acoustic Guitar/Lead Vocal: Bruce T Carroll, Tenor and Baritone Sax: Jay Collins, Trumpet: Chris Pasin, Drums/Percussion: Lee Falco, Bass: Brandon Morrison, BG Vocals: Carla Springer, Electric Guitars: Connor Kennedy, Horn Arrangement: Jay Collins
4. ‘Til It’s Time To Go: (4:17) A lovely ballad that suggests that, no matter where life might take you, geographically or spiritually, there is always, in the end, a return to where you began…Home is where the heart is!
CREDITS - Bruce T Carroll (BTCSongs/ASCAP) ISRC - QZEQ32100308
Lead Vocal: Bruce T Carroll, Piano/Organ/Vocals: Will Bryant, Drums/Vocals: Lee Falco, Bass/Vocals: Brandon Morrison, Electric Guitar: Connor Kennedy
5. Dragonfly In a Jar: (4:25) The limitations of mortality, the need to “save your own life” before you can help others..
CREDITS - Bruce T Carroll (BTCSongs/ASCAP) ISRC - QZEQ32100309
Acoustic Guitar/Lead Vocals: Bruce T Carroll, Electric Guitar: Marc Shulman, Harmonica: Gary Schreiner
Drums/Percussion/Vocals: Lee Falco, Bass/Vocals: Brandon Morrison, Accordian/Organ/Vocals:Will Bryant Violin: Sara Milonovich
6. I Let Go: (2:58) Describes the feeling, quite simply, of having had enough!
CREDITS - Bruce T Carroll (BTCSongs/ASCAP) ISRC - QZEQ321003010
Acoustic Guitar/Lead Vocal: Bruce T Carroll, Drums/Percussion: Lee Falco, Guitar: Andy Stack, Lead Guitar: Connor Kennedy, Bass: Brandon Morrison, Organ: Tommy Mandel, Wurlitzer: Will Bryant, BG Vocals: Carla Springer
7. Don’t Take Love Lightly (MAGA Girl): (3:59) Describes the plight of anyone who might have been in a relationship with someone who lies pathologically.
CREDITS - Bruce T Carroll (BTCSongs/ASCAP) ISRC - QZEQ32100311
Acoustic Guitar/Lead Vocals: Bruce T Carroll, Electric Guitars: Connor Kennedy, Bass/Vocals: Brandon Morrison, Drums/Percussion/Vocals: Lee Falco, Piano/Farfisa/Wurlitzer/Vocals: Will Bryant, Violin: Sara Milonovich
8. Grandfather Walks: (4:45) A loving (but largely fictional) depiction of my grandfather as inspired by my mother’s loving descriptions of him in my youth.
CREDITS - Bruce T Carroll (BTCSongs/ASCAP) ISRC - QZEQ32100304
Acoustic Guitar/Lead Vocals: Bruce T Carroll, Bass/Vocals: Brandon Morrison, Drums/Percussion/Vocals: Lee Falco, Piano/Organ/Harmonium: Will Bryant, Accordian: Tommy Mandel, Violin: Sara Milonovich
All songs written by Bruce T Carroll. All songs Copyright Bruce T Carroll, 2021. All songs published BTCSongs (ASCAP). All songs produced by Bruce T Carroll. All songs co-produced by Brandon Morrison, except for Nobody Knows, co-produced by Ben Wisch. All songs recorded and mixed at The Building in Marlboro, NY, except for Nobody Knows, recorded at The Building and mixed by Ben Wisch at Bailey Building and Loan, Ridgewood NJ. All songs mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music, Cornwall-On-Hudson, NY. Photography by Billy Burns.
ABOUT BRUCE T CARROLL
With the release of his third album, First Bird To Sing, Bruce T. Carroll is completing a significant musical hat trick. In the short span of only five years, Bruce has written, recorded, and released three albums: Ruckus and Romance (2016), Finding You (2018), and now, First Bird To Sing (Sept, 2021)! Throw in the 2020 release of his inspirational single Lift Your Head Up, and you have a body of quality work that would be the envy of any working songwriter!
First Bird To Sing is distinctive in many ways, recorded live as it was by real musicians (Bruce T Carroll, Connor Kennedy, Lee Falco, Brandon Morrison, Will Bryant, Andy Stack, Marc Shulman, Sara Milonovich, Jay Collins, and others) in a real studio (The Building in Marlboro, NY), and in real time (with very little remote tracking). Not an easy feat during a pandemic, but EVERY precaution was taken to ensure the health and safety of the friends and musicians working in the same room at the same time, and, though it took longer than it should have, everyone involved emerged in good health!
First Bird To Sing is also distinctive in that it is a unique compilation of raucous rockers alongside reflective ballads, with some virtuoso musical performances alongside poignant and very powerful lyrics. And, although the album was conceived and largely written during a tumultuous political year, Bruce wisely strikes a good balance between the personal and the political shadings that usually inhabit his work.
Three albums and one single in five years! Such prolific output is an indication that Bruce is trying to make up for lost time, and indeed he is. He spent fourteen years (1999-2013) operating a legendary Larchmont, NY music venue called the Watercolor Café, where he presented regional and national acts of great renown, as well as new and undiscovered acts that soon broke upon the national scene. While presenting great music in a beautiful club setting was a labor of love for Bruce, it often kept him from pursuing his first love and overriding passion: lyric songwriting. Since closing the Watercolor in early 2014 Bruce has had the time and headspace to plunge back into songwriting and performing, which had been on hold since his early days playing in the heady NYC music scene of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s.
With the release of his first official album Ruckus and Romance, in 2016, which was hailed by No Depression Magazine as "devilishly brilliant" and "intensely beautiful", Bruce T Carroll established himself as an Americana artist with a social conscience and deft lyrical touch. Using irony and imagery as tools in trade, and a band of great musicians to back him up (Clifford Carter, David Spinozza, Marc Shulman, Sara Milonovich, Tracy Grammer, Nicole Alifante, Porter Carroll, Lincoln Schleifer, and Joe Bonadio) Bruce made Ruckus and Romance a distinctive debut, and his song When Two Worlds Collide helped bring the worldwide refugee crisis into sharp focus. Ruckus and Romance garnered significant airplay worldwide, described by WFUV as "an accomplished album, attuned to the zeitgeist of the moment".
Bruce followed up less than two years later with the release of the six-song EP Finding You. The album is a sort of lyrical tone poem, with the theme of finding, or regaining, something that had been missing, or lost. What had been lost at that time, it seemed, was the very soul of the nation, mired as it was in the throes of right-wing governance that sought to undo a century of progressive gains. The signature song on the record, Fox in the Henhouse may still be Bruce's definitive statement on what was then the state of the union. Another song on the record, I Will Never Leave, is an anthemic statement of the intention to resist and, ultimately, to remain. Produced by Andy Stack, Finding You features stellar performances by Stack (guitars, bass, keyboards), Sara Milonovich (violin), Lee Falco (drums), Jeremy Baum (organ, accordian) Brandon Morrison (bass), and Adrien Reju and Melissa Ahern (vocals)...
In March 2020, Bruce released a powerful new song and video entitled Lift Your Head Up. It was, in essence, a call for people of conscience to get involved in the social and political battles raging around them, and effect necessary change. It was a call to activism and It remains a work that represents much that Bruce has sought, through artful songcraft and powerful music, to convey to the world.
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