(Other coverage of River Roots Live 2011 can be found here.)
For its second record, The Apache Relay - which will perform on August 20 at River Roots Live - initially tracked 10 songs in early 2010. But the band sat on the record - preferring a 2011 release to a late-2010 one - and that layoff prompted singer/songwriter Michael Ford Jr. to write new songs.
"I felt like in my heart of hearts that I had songs that needed to be on the record that hadn't been written yet," he said in a phone interview last week. "I felt like I had better in me. ... I wanted to write better songs."
So in the fall they tracked a handful of songs - some new, some different versions of previously recorded songs - and the fusion of those two sessions is American Nomad, which Nashville Scene called "exuberantly tuneful" and "irresistibly idealistic."
The final version of American Nomad only ditched two songs - "Sets Me Free" and "Lost Kid" took their places - but the band's decision to hold off on the record is one indication of the The Apache Relay's maturity. Even though the band is young - Ford is 23 - and has been around just two years, it seems and sounds far more experienced.
