Nick Tressler Rowdy Founder
Quarantine has been a strange time for a lot of artists. Many have juggled release dates and song selection in what has become the new normal of non-touring, and for a lot of acts, not being able to be with the folks they are used to seeing weekly on the road. A band of brothers like Muscadine Bloodline took quickly to seeing some silver linings in the mess that is 2020. They decided that while it might not be the time to drop their first full length album, they had a once in a lifetime chance to have a really unique way to connect with and even help grow their fanbase.
Can I just start by saying how good it is to hear Gary and Charlie back in the studio together? I think every Muscadine fan has loved the level of engagement and the sheer volume and quality of new music from the boys’ releases of their Quarantine Worktapes Volume 1 and Volume 2, where Charlie and Gary recorded their tracks separately. While both of the guys’ talent and songwriting skills definitely stand toe to toe with any of the other folks in the Country music world, the magic in Muscadine Bloodline is how these two voices and talents weave together to make a cohesive unit. So while we have loved hearing each of their voices on tracks separately…can I just say how FREAKING GOOD it is to hear Gary and Charlie back in the studio together?!
After the stay at home order was lifted, the guys took the sentiments and songs they have gotten the chance to explore during their time apart and put some of them into a studio performance. Together again, with instrument accompaniment and a renewed sense of how lucky they are to be able to make music for all of us fans, they came together and produced the Turn Back Time EP.
Four tracks, each with their own story to tell, but each with the same overarching sentiment: a statement of remembering the times that helped carve out who you are, all speaking of love in one way or another. At the end of the day love is what makes us human, and the lack of it and the physical or mental representations on it can cause more damage than a virus. Lost love and all its emotional spiraling can be one of the toughest things to withstand, but can also lead to some of the greatest breakthroughs about finding out who you are.
The project starts off with the EP’s title track “Turn Back Time” that builds the steep roller-coaster style climb and stamps out the sentiment you can hear interwoven in each track.
“Redemption is a word I just can’t shake.
There’s some things I regret that I’ll take to the grave.
Yeah bullets and words they’re about the same.
Still wishing I could turn back time ”
Be it the hindsight that comes from staring back on that first young love like in “First Love Back”, or that struggle to express the feelings of needing to know exactly how your partner feels like in “Playing”, Muscadine breathes truth, haunting guitar, and sometimes angst into these four tracks. Each song builds on the others to drive the story or broken love. With guest vocals by Lainey Wilson adding another layer of complexity to the fiddle-laden track “Pieces”, I think we find a true stand out track of the project. Charlie and Lainey both reach deep to pour emotion of the two sided struggle of relationships.
Turn Back Time Writers: Charlie Muncaster, Gary Stanton, Ray Fulcher, Jordan Fletcher
Pieces Writers: Charlie , Gary, Lainey Wilson
Playing Writers: Charlie, Gary, Jordan
First Love Back Gary, Jordan
So while we are still eagerly awaiting their full album release, the guys (as they often do) gave us another piece of their hearts expressed in chords and lyrics. They gave this to us as a reminder that even in the darkest times there is a place for love, for self reflection, and most important of all, for healing. The things that make Country music truly great are found in these songs written from the heart with stark emotion and clear expression.
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