I’m excited to share the news that my new release LONG ROAD AHEAD is coming out in September!
The 5 songs on this EP were recorded over at Blue Buddha Studios in Cleveland. It was recorded and mixed by Jim Wall (Cleveland drummer extraordinaire) who owns Blue Buddha. The recording was mastered by Jessica Thompson at The Magic Shop in New York City.
Musicians on the recording:
Thor Platter – Acoustic guitar & Vocals
Matt Charboneau – Upright Bass
Tommy Hannum – Dobro on “Ride” & “Long Road Ahead”
Paul Kovac – Banjo, Mandolin on “Long Road Ahead”
Bill Lestock – Mandolin & Fiddle
Here’s a link to check out the song “RIDE” from the upcoming release:
https://soundcloud.com/thor-platter/ride
We tried to create an old sound that would call back to the early Flatt & Scruggs recordings, but also putting the vocals front and center with a modern twist on some of the instrumentation. I wouldn’t call this a straight Bluegrass record by any means.. it’s Americana, with Bluegrass instrumentation for sure.
“Lake Erie Shore” was written by a friend of mine named Tricia Zook. Tricia and I were in a band called The Whiskey Lock a few years back. This song is one of my favorites, and I’ve been playing it at most shows since the Whiskey Lock parted ways. She currently lives in Toledo and I was happy to record this song of hers.
“Josh’s Manifesto” was written by Josh Stevens and myself. Josh is a local musician in Cleveland who grew up in the NYC area. He literally has hundreds of songs that he’s written that are just as good, if not better than this one. The story is pretty self explanatory. I feel the song truly shines on this recording.
“Ride” is a song that I wrote during my time with The Whiskey Lock. We actually put it on the first Whiskey Lock recording. In this new version, the band goes to some dark places for me, and the addition of Tommy Hannum’s dark and creepy Dobro sound works well. Tommy is an amazing musician out of Nashville, his credits fill a room, he recorded with Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Ricky Van Shelton and tons of others. I’m currently in the process of recording my second full band, full length studio album to follow up the 2013 Album LOOKING FOR SUNSHINE. I’m thiking about putting a full out distorted version of RIDE on this next album too, with a change in instrumentation, we’ll see.
“Ransom River” is a song that I wrote about my hometown of Buffalo, NY. I’ve been living in Cleveland for 8 years now, and while I love Ohio and consider it my true home, I’ll always have a special place in my heart for where I grew up.
“Long Road Ahead” is a song that I wrote for a friend who needed to know they were not alone, and had someone to help. It took me 5 years to find the correct instrumentation to make that song come to life the way I wanted. I think the players on this album did a terrific job of that.
The release date for this EP is set for Tuesday September 8th. That’s for iTunes and other online sources. FRIDAY SEPT 11 will be our release party at Brother’s Lounge, in the wine bar. 8pm, no cover. Hope to see you there!
-Thor