Whiskey in the Pines Keep the Faith on New Americana Tune “Roses” (premiere)

Whiskey in the Pines‘ latest, “Roses”, is all about keeping the faith and having a good time doing it. The Americana quartet’s rollicking new number is one that you know will get audiences up and dancing within moments of its opening riffs. They encapsulate a familial soundscape with the tune, bringing listeners into a comforting anthem that reflects on how great it is just to feel alive.

Grown out of Tallahassee, the band grew up in the perfect landscape to inspire some no-frills alt-country at its finest, and it shows on “Roses”. The premiere of this new single predates the release of Whiskey in the Pines’ upcoming LP, Sunshine from the Blue Cactus, on 2 February 2018. And, yes, they pay homage to the dearly departed Tom Petty on the track, as well and encourage listeners to spot the call-out to the famed artist within the song.

In a Q&A, the band tells PopMatters:

What is “Roses” about?

The year I wrote “Roses” my wife and I had just bought a new house. We were in the middle of doing all of these renovations and cleaning up the yard when this overwhelming feeling of gratefulness just washed over me. I had never felt so alive at that very moment and it became very surreal to me that if anything in the past had been just a little bit different than this moment wouldn’t exist. The song was a reminder to me that you don’t have to see the whole interstate to get to your destination. You just have to have a faith that the road will unfold and that you’ll get there one way or another.

Who or what were some influences when it came to writing “Roses”?

I’m not a fan of writing songs in a deliberate fashion. I think the years of studying songwriting and idolizing all my heroes comes through in all my songs. This song, however, I did purposely write for the record. We needed a more up-tempo song that would help move the songs from one to another. It’s become one of my favorites to play live, it just has this great groove to it and the audience seems to really fall into what we are about once we hit that first chord. They know its about to be a good time and they can settle into their whiskey.

Any cool, funny, or interesting stories from writing and recording this one?

The first words I wrote for the song were “When you’re watching all the roses grow from the start.” So I knew I had the theme. It was just tying it all together. I had written a version of it that I wasn’t very happy with and I had been struggling to find exactly what I wanted to say. The night before we tracked it I sitting on this bed and the words just fell from the sky as they sometimes do. I vaguely even remember writing it but I woke up the next morning and read over the lyrics that were left on the nightstand going “Well that will do won’t it.” The power of red wine ladies and gentleman, it’s not just good for the heart.