Stardoc Fences

In the past few years of country music, there haven’t been many great certainties to count on. There were plenty of bad of course. We could count on bro country being a parasite that infects the genre for years to come and is still to this day. We could count on more trend chasing and more outsiders coming into the genre to further muck up the sound of country music. All of these negative things we could count on to bring country down.

Sedona, AZ-based Americana duo Surrender Hill (husband and wife team Robin Dean Salmon and Afton Seekins) is set to release its third album, Tore Down Fences, on February 2, 2018. A roots-rock album filled with guitars, harmonized vocals, organ, and the occasional burst of pedal steel, Tore Down Fences pushes Surrender Hill into harder, grittier territory.

Unfamiliar with Fences, aka Christopher Mansfield I could be forgiven by taking the visual and assuming what I was going to hear matches up to the image of the man himself. Instead within seconds, I realized I was not in Kansas anymore, a melodic, emotive range of songwriting flowed across the headphones immersed in soft poised vocals that told a story beyond the lyrics itself. What you get is a beautiful collection of melancholy, heartfelt songs that envelope you in an instant, hard to remove yourself from the deep intrinsic stories, you simply get swept away within the melodies and easy on the ear songs that resonate across the album. Like many of the modern day storytellers, capturing life within three minutes you could find comparisons in the likes of Passenger, or Damien Rice with soulful immersive songwriting, yet Fences delivers his songs in a personal way that resonates with the listener in an equally intimate way.

Bombadil from Durham, North Carolina breaks down musical walls on "Fences", featuring 11 original songs composed by the trio, influenced by early Paul Simon and steeped in shades of Cat Stevens and The Incredible String Band. Following the loss of a longtime member and a period of exploration that forced the band out of its comfort zone, Bombadil returned reborn with its most remarkable work to date: meticulously crafted yet accessible and unadorned.