3hattrio’s Hal Cannon today shares the new single and video – Silver Dove – from his upcoming solo album project, Nothin’ Lastin’, which is to be released on October 7 (Okehdokee Records).
Unusually, for the accompanying video, he has had the album sleeve artwork animated by fellow Utah resident Ed Bateman whose area of expertise includes digitally manipulating historic photographs to encourage the viewer to reconsider representations of the past. Here, he brings the photo’s long-gone human subject to life.
To bring the songs on Nothin’ Lastin’ to life, Cannon enlisted some of his closest musical friends (including long-term collaborators Greg Istock and Eli Wrankle of 3hattrio) to fill out the arrangements behind his voice and banjo.
Silver Dove is notable for being the one duet on the album. On the track, Cannon is joined by the Denver-based folk singer Mollie O’Brien, whose bright and airy vocal compliments his smooth baritone in his soul-stirring prayer for a hopeful future. O’Brien is joined by her musical partner (and husband) Rich on guitar and her brother Tim on Mandolin. Given the all-American cast, listeners may be surprised to learn that this song’s roots can actually be traced to Central Asia. In 2013 Cannon took part in a cultural tour of Turkmenistan called The American Cowboy Show. During this tour, he was struck by the warmth and curiosity of the Turkmen people in the face of a repressive state that keeps a tight control on daily life. Particularly affecting were the school visits where Cannon met the children who are growing up in this environment and whose future freedoms are so uncertain. On return to the USA, he wrote the first draft of Silver Dove as a beacon of hope to those generations.
Nothin’ Lastin’ is now available for 12” vinyl pre-order here: https://halcannon.bandcamp.com/
Folklorist Cannon’s life’s work has been devoted to documenting and exploring the cultural and natural landscape of this region. But this new album, Nothin’ Lastin’, is also personal and intimate; the songs, a cry of impermanence and the quest to find solid ground.
He is best known for his work touring and recording with 3hattrio. Together for a decade, the group has six highly-acclaimed albums to their credit and have toured extensively, particularly in Europe. They have been extensively covered on Folk Radio UK since 2016 and have appeared at Celtic Connections, Tønder Festival and the Gothenburg Culture Festival.
Beyond his work as a musician, Cannon has served as the founding director of the Western Folklife Center and its annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, produced scores of cultural features for NPR, and has been researching and performing pioneer music since the early 1970s.
“I’ve been a folklorist, an explorer, all of my life. With Nothin’ Lastin, I bare my soul, a territory balancing near the precipice. I only ask you listen to my songs with an open heart,” he says.
Pre-order Nothin’ Lastin here: https://halcannon.bandcamp.com/
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