Here’s a bit of rabble rousing from Oxford, Mississippi’s Charlie Mars.
It’s “Hell Yeah” from his upcoming album, The Money, due out on October 14.
A lazy feeling Grateful Dead-esque strum-based tale, “Hell Yeah” tells the tale of a traveling man with vivid lyrics and an ambling groove. Mars’ delivers it all with perfect restraint.
Mars reveals, “‘Hell Yeah’ was written in a hotel in Greenwood, South Carolina, on a rainy
night after a show. I'd accidentally driven to Greenville, SC, thinking that's where the show was...which meant I was a little late getting to the show...but everything worked out. The song is about some of the things I've lost in order to keep the songwriter life going, and a nod to the in between life of motels and late nights, and a shout out to some of the towns I have cherished memories from along the way (and more than a few wild memories!)”
The opening track on the album, “Hell Yeah” rolls out with a scene of cinematic vividness. "Looking out a rainy window/In a hotel in Caroline/Drinking free coffee, smoking that smoke/From an apple by the exit sign."
Mars has been operating outside the confines of the major label world ever since self-releasing his breakthrough album, Like a Bird, Like a Plane, in 2009. Since then, he has had two Top 30 singles at AAA radio ("Listen To The Darkside" and "How I Roll"), sold 32,000 records independently, played more than 500 dates and licensed songs to shows like “Parenthood,” “Bones,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Weeds” and “United States of Tara.”
In addition to his outings with the Dixie Chicks, he has also toured with artists like Steve Earle, Tedeschi Trucks Band and Citizen Cope and his storyteller solo shows are often sell-outs
The Money is the final volume in Charlie Mars' Texas trilogy, so named because the first two albums were cut in Austin, the latest one at Sonic Ranch outside of El Paso, all with Billy Harvey as producer and core musicians J.J. Johnson, John Ginty, and George Reiff.
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The series began with the ironically titled Like a Bird, Like a Plane, released in 2009, two years after the record label Mars had been signed to went out of business, leaving him no choice but to go DIY. It was the best thing that ever happened to Charlie because, out of necessity, 12 years and five albums into his career, he found his true voice, just as he was beginning to experience life more fully. Mars followed that initial revelatory effort with 2012’s Blackberry Light.
Acoustic Nation is written by Laura B. Whitmore, a music industry marketing veteran, music journalist and editor, who has contributed to Parade.com, Guitar World, and others. She has interviewed hundreds of musicians and hosts the She Rocks Podcast. As the founder of the Women’s International Music Network, she advocates for women in the music industry and produces the annual She Rocks Awards. She is the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Positive Grid, making the world safe for guitar exploration everywhere! A guitarist and singer/songwriter, Laura is currently co-writing an album of pop songs that empower and energize girls.
