Anyone that listened to our latest Folk Show (Episode 116) would have heard ‘Souvenir’, the new single from Pharis & Jason Romero. It’s the first release from their forthcoming album, Tell ’Em You Were Gold, out on 17th June 2022 on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
Tell ’Em You Were Gold is their seventh album as a duo, following 2020’s Bet on Love which delivered their trademark soulful roots music, recorded live off the floor in their resurrected banjo workshop. As noted in David Morrison’s album review: As illustrated in a short 2018 CBC documentary about the couple’s cottage industry, any given cadence can appear to Pharis in the most unexpected ways, such as when creating a banjo inlay which, whether working with aluminium, wood or brass, has “a rhythm all of its own that I can make use of, whether it’s from a file or a saw!” Jason, on the other hand, is obsessed with and (in his banjos) known for tone. This marriage of rhythm and tone in harmony with brilliant, relaxed musicianship (surely borne of the idyllic rural location in which they live) provides the bedrock on which the two create some really gorgeous material.
As with the last release, the album was written and recorded at the couple’s homestead in Horsefly, British Columbia. An old barn that had long been run down became their studio. Pharis and Jason restored the barn themselves, milling their own spruce, hoisting beams, and rebuilding a roof originally covered in tin printing plates, all done between building banjos, adventuring outdoors, and loving up their two kids. “The music made on this record was made in the spirit of that working transformation and in the spirit of the history that old barn contains,” they write in the album’s liner notes.
Album opener ‘Souvenir’ and ‘Pale Morning’ are out now, the former landing alongside a music video. Despite its place in the tracklisting, Pharis reveals “Souvenir” came together on the final day of recording.
“The banjo and guitar vibe changed as soon as we sat down to play it. Jason retuned the banjo and switched from clawhammer to a rhythmic fingerstyle; I slowed the guitar down and played heavy on the downbeat. A couple takes in, and the song sat where you hear it now,” she shares. “The words are about how experiences in life become souvenirs of times, places and people. It’s about keeping yourself centred as you carry them. In other words, the souvenirs don’t become you – you are at the core of them, and you are gold.”
Tell ’Em You Were Gold is out June 17th on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Pre-order / pre-save here: https://orcd.co/pharis-jason-romero
You can also hear the track on our Regular Folk Playlist here.