“In the end, The Ballad of The Past feels like a book of short stories set to music with Ries and Schindler weaving in and out like lead characters. You could say It’s a great read.” - Steve Wosahla

— Americana Highways

“This is a wonderful sounding record. The tunes have a timelessness that seems effortless-- voices mesh beautifully. Whoever mixed this had a wonderful sense of what you were trying to achieve; there is room for every instrument and every note. That pedal steel lays so beautifully across the tracks where it lives. Kudos to the entire team.”

— Brian R. ITG Music on "Nothing Here is Mine"

NEW RECORD "BALLAD OF THE PAST"

“Do you remember . . . . the ballad of the past. . . . ” 

From the opening question to the last line of their last song, Kentucky Avenue’s second record harkens back to the classic country rock music of 1970s Laurel Canyon, infusing it with their modern Americana spirit.  With a nod to Emmylou and Gram, Ballad of the Past presents stories of love and longing, loss and loneliness—but not without a notion that enough is enough or miracles are possible.  En route to California, their songs travel through the haunted hills of the South, the misty mountains of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and a stop in Asbury Park with a Springsteen cover. 

For this second album, Kentucky Avenue is joined once again by Greg Watkins on acoustic and electric bass and by Michael Robert Taylor on violin—both of whom have become regulars in the band’s live performances. 

Also featured:  Tom Hnatow on pedal steel, banjo, and dobro; John O’Reilly on drums; and Daniel Clarke on piano and organ. 

Making this album during the pandemic was certainly a new experience.  Under the direction of producer and engineer Mark Williams at Sucker Punch Recording Company, the foundation of each song was recorded well before lockdown.  The magic continued to unfold as additional parts were farmed out to faraway places and the band’s Dave Ries got to work on the cover art.  Despite the distances, the sound and the spirit of the music all came together, giving shape to the band’s vision for the new record. 

LISTEN TO BALLAD OF THE PAST

Debut Record: "Nothing Here is Mine"

The self-released Nothing Here is Mine features 12 original songs that combine the roots of classic country with a backline of get-up-out-of-your-seat, crank-up-the-volume rock rhythms.  Carving a place in the modern Americana scene, Washington DC-based Kentucky Avenue features at its core the rich and rootsy blend of Stella Schindler’s powerfully poetic vocals and the melodic guitar musings of Dave Ries.  When their voices come together, the timeless harmonies provide a poignant, sometimes playful backdrop to their lyrics that evoke the idea behind Leonard Cohen’s famous line “there’s a crack in everything/ that’s how the light gets in.” Kentucky Avenue’s stories of broken characters are imbued with hope, illuminated by the moonlight present in many of the layered lines of their lyrics.

LISTEN TO "Nothing Here is Mine"

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