Yelawolf, “Shadows”

Yelawolf, “Shadows” Featuring Joshua Hedley

Joshua Hedley, an East Nashville stalwart who’s backed artists like Jonny Fritz and Justin Townes Earle on fiddle in addition to leading his own band, sings the mournful opening hook: “Memories of shadows haunt me, from the years when I was young / All the things that used to terrify me, are the things that I’ve become.” He’s accompanied by a fingerpicked acoustic guitar and ghostly vocals, adding to the heavy mood.

Alabama native Yelawolf – who spent several years living in Nashville – paints a vivid, frightening picture of personal demons, biker lawlessness, illicit drugs and all-out desperation in his characteristic drawl. “Whiskey bent after twelve – I’m always playing with death / Bullet shells in my yard – loaded gun on the shelf,” he snarls, backed by bluesy Dobro riffs and a shuffling beat. He’s looking back on lost innocence, realizing he’s embraced his own nightmares of paranoia and crime.

Yelawolf, a long time favorite of mine, and Hedley. a great fiddler and singer, make this song.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Yelawolf, “Til It’s Gone”

“Till It’s Gone” was recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with mixing engineer Matthew Hayes and producer William “WLPWR” Washington, who also performed keyboards, pads, drums, programming and strings on the song; Mike Hartnett performed guitar and bass guitar. The song originated as an acoustic guitar riff, which was then looped and used as the backing for lyrics which were written “in a couple hours”. Due to its “dark and swampy” tone, the track was originally known as “The Swampy Record”.

On September 16, 2014, “Till It’s Gone” was featured on the second episode of the seventh season of American crime drama television series Sons of Anarchy, an inclusion which Yelawolf described as a “perfect fit”. Speaking about the lyrical themes on display in “Till It’s Gone”, Yelawolf has described the song as “very aggressive” and “very dark”, and notes that “It’s juxtaposed with this melody and the hook that gives it the power”. About the music, he has described the beat as “dope, swampy, alligator, snake-infested, gangrene, and dark”.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Yelawolf, “Johnny Cash”

Michael Wayne Atha, better known as Yelawolf, part Cherokee, is an American hip hop recording artist from Gadsden, Alabama. He is currently signed to Shady Records and Interscope Records. Yelawolf released his independent debut studio album titled Creekwater in 2005. From 2005 to 2010 he also released an extended play and four mixtapes. The last of the four, titled Trunk Muzik, amassed a strong following for the rapper, eventually landing him a deal with Interscope Records, which re-released the mixtape as Trunk Muzik 0-60 later that year.

In January 2011, Yelawolf signed with Eminem’s record label, Shady Records, and released his album, Radioactive on November 21, 2011. The album debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200. Yelawolf released a sequel to his breakthrough mixtape Trunk Muzik, titled Trunk Muzik Returns on March 14, 2013. His second album, Love Story, was released on April 21, 2015.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)