The Grahams – “Biscuits” (audio) (Premiere)

This May, the husband and wife duo called the Grahams (Alyssa and Doug Graham) will release two brand new works of art: an album, Glory Bound, and a musical documentary film, Rattle the Hocks. The latter is a visual document of the relationship between the railroad system and American roots music. The former is a joyous musical celebration of roots music, a genre that the Grahams have a strong grasp over. Need proof? Give the wry and charming “Biscuits” a spin, which, as the Grahams explain it, is an exercise in euphemism.

Alyssa elaborates to PopMatters, “‘Biscuits’ is absolutely one of our favorite songs to perform live. We always get a different and unexpected reaction from each audience. If you ask Doug and me, as New York kids spending a good portion of our time down South, and ultimately moving down to Tennessee, we wanted to write a song that honored a longtime Southern tradition so we could ‘fit in’ below the Mason-Dixon line. Of course, ultimately, you can take the kids out of New York, but you can’t take New York out of the kids, hence the undertone of sarcasm and innuendo in this simple song.

“Exploring the concept for ‘Biscuits’ more deeply, Bryan [McCann, co-writer] explains that one aspect of blues music that never appealed to us as kids was double-entendre blues. Anything beyond Bessie Smith singing about jelly roll seemed too salacious to three immature kids from the North. As we grew up a bit, earthy appreciation of sensual pleasures seems more worth celebrating openly or in the lightly veiled guise of double meaning verse. Hence, this mild version of earthy blues with a sweet and sassy aftertaste that will linger long after the last biscuit is gone.”

Glory Bound is out on 19 May via 12 South.

Watch the trailer for Rattle the Hocks below: