Nashville-based trio Sam Gyllenhaal Band is highlighting two past single releases via new versions featuring an acoustic treatment that strips the songs down to their essence. The acoustic versions highlight the band’s three-part harmonies and allow the trio to experiment with different instrumentation and percussion. Since the band tours mostly as an acoustic trio, these new versions are very representative of the current live show.
The first acoustic single, “Mary Does (Acoustic)” was just released on January 26, 2024, via Rock Ridge Music. The original version was released in 2022.
“‘Mary Does’ is that new relationship whirlwind where you get no sleep and spend your waking hours daydreaming about this person who’s flipped your world upside down,” explains band lead singer, guitarist, and namesake, Sam Gyllenhaal. “The honeymoon phase blooms, and a long-term relationship takes root. They make you a better person just by being around you, but they also accept you for being exactly who you are.”
The second acoustic single, “Blame It on the Moonlight (Acoustic),” will be released on March 29, 2023.
“‘Blame it on the Moonlight’ is probably the most flirtatious song I’ve ever written,” says Gyllenhaal. “It’s romantic sarcasm at its finest, and the listener, the girl I’m wooing, and I are all in on the joke. It’s a head-spinning infatuation, and it has nothing to do with the moonlight and everything to do with that crazy, head-over-heels kind of love.”
Both “Mary Does” and “Blame It on the Moonlight” were co-writes with Nicole Lewis and the late John Cirillo, who passed away in 2022.
“These songs are a tribute to John and his legacy and his feel-good, positive voice,” says Gyllenhaal.
The band also plans to release a new album later in 2024, with the first single from it, “Try Me,” to be released May 31, 2024.
As a band, they have found the sweet spot: that place where rich, three-part harmony and thoughtful, catchy songwriting come together – but it wasn’t easy to find. Gyllenhaal himself has been writing, woodshedding, recording, and gigging over a span of 10 years which has included living in three cities, five or six-day jobs, and hundreds of song demos. Music has always been a big part of Gyllenhaal’s life – he started playing guitar at the age of 4 and was involved in musical theater while growing up – but he didn’t discover that he wanted to pursue music professionally until writing his first song in college. Since that very first song, he has had a one-track mind: to make music he loves with the people he loves.
Joined by his frequent co-writer Alaina Stacey and long-time friend and bandmate Alex Schreiner, the Sam Gyllenhaal Band officially came together in 2017. Stacey brings a beautifully pure tone and an out-of-this-world knack for blending, while Schreiner, who has known Gyllenhaal since their college a cappella days, has a voice that complements and magnifies Gyllenhaal’s smooth tenor – he’s also been known to play the shaker like it owes him money.
The band came out with its first full-length album entitled A Little More Freedom in December of 2018, co-produced with industry veteran Denny Martin. The first track, “Anything, Everything” was featured on the Silverado Records Country Music Discovery Series, receiving 30k streams on Spotify alone. In November of 2020, the band came out with an EP called Don’t Look Down. The title track won an honorable mention in American Songwriter’s 2021 Song Contest. Their pop, rock, and country influences inspire their songs’ cascading melodies, driving grooves and vivid lyrics. The band likes to sing about life and love in motion – sometimes soaring, sometimes stumbling, but always moving forward.
Check out the Sam Gyllenhaal Band on tour in these cities:
March 9 – Murfreesboro, TN – Puckett’s Murfreesboro
June 7 – Madisonville, KY – Oasis Bar
June 12 – Madisonville, KY – Oasis Bar
Aug. 2 – Madisonville, KY – Oasis Bar
Aug. 12 – Conifer, CO – Coniferfest
Connect with Sam Gyllenhaal Band on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube
Source: Press Release
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