The Hollering Pines - Here's to Hoping (2024) [Hi-Res]

The Hollering Pines are as good a proof as you’ll find of music’s magic still being found in the sound of specific people. Real, live, in the moment, breathing the same air, being together in one room.

Music historians talk about how the sound of the Stones can be distilled down to the push and drag between Charlie Watts’ drums and Keith Richards’ guitar. And today’s producers would be tempted to quantize it all, straighten it out, and—in the process—lose what makes the Stones the Stones.

That’s what you get with the Hollering Pines, especially on their fourth album, Here’s To Hoping. Nothing sounds quite like the gene-
spliced, impossibly beautiful sister harmonies of Marie Bradshaw and Kiki Jane Sieger (guesting on vocals from her new home in Oregon), two powerhouse singers in their own right but—in the tradition of the Everlys, Andrews, the Chicks, and Welch/Rawlings—an entirely other powerful thing when singing together.

The same goesfor the tasteful, complementary guitar interplay between guitarist/mandolinist M. Horton Smith and guitarist/pedal steelist Dylan Schorer, weaving in and out in the rock tradition of Keef & Ronnie, Duane & Dickey, Jerry & Bob. Put either (incredible) guitarist with another partner? You don’t get the same, patently Pines thing. Those two unique pairs of people, coming together to make music? That’s the sound of the Hollering Pines.

On Here’s To Hoping, that sound sometimes expands beyond the countrified Americana sound of their previous records, bordering at times on roots-rock territory typical of artists like Tom Petty, Sheryl Crow, and even Fleetwood Mac. Maybe part of that evolution comes from the rhythm section’s new additions: Marcus Bently on bass (previously played by Sieger) and Jagoda on drums (previously played by Here’s To Hoping’s engineer Daniel Young). And maybe it’s just the sound of a band that knows where they’ve been and where they’re going.

What’s inarguable is the fact that it sounds just like The Hollering Pines, underpinned as always by Bradshaw’s rock solid, rootsy, hooky story-driven songwriting (with M. Horton Smith
contributing “One Too Many”).

Dylan Schorer - Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Pedal Steel
Jagoda - Drums Percussion
Marie Bradshaw - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Marcus Bently - Bass, Vocals
M. Horton Smith - Electric Guitar, Mando-guitar, Vocals, Mellotron

Featuring
Kiki Sieger - Vocals
Greg Leisz - Pedal Steel Guitar
Phil Madeira - Piano, Organ, Mellotron

Tracklist:
1.01 - The Hollering Pines - Tender Heart (3:11)
1.02 - The Hollering Pines - Olive Branch (4:22)
1.03 - The Hollering Pines - Slow Learner (2:43)
1.04 - The Hollering Pines - Bitter Sweet (4:43)
1.05 - The Hollering Pines - Here's to Hoping (3:36)
1.06 - The Hollering Pines - Born With a Job (3:23)
1.07 - The Hollering Pines - Another Storm (3:30)
1.08 - The Hollering Pines - One Too Many (3:16)
1.09 - The Hollering Pines - Before I Die (4:06)