D Boone Pittman, the country/americana songwriter, performer, and 3- time Josie Award nominee, is thrilled to announce the official launch of his third studio album, Resurrection Noise. Pittman’s music has always been tethered to his roots. A product of Appalachia, Pittman’s songwriting captures the depths and majesty of his homeland while giving the listener a front row vantage point to the culture and history. Pittman writes and sings about this culture and history with an authority given only to those who have lived in the area. From the historical ballads like “Casey Jones” (from the Emerge, LP) and “Furnace Mountain” (from Bluegrass American Dream) to the relational angst expressed in songs like “She Likes the Beach” or “Bardstown Train”, Pittman consistently represents his heritage in song. It’s a formula that works, and his new project is no different. In the same way he approached the hardships of the pandemic with Emerge, Pittman tackles two new topics with his upcoming album Resurrection Noise. The 10 track LP deals mostly with the subject matter of the tragic eastern Kentucky flooding from 2022, with some light hints to the passing of his father “Jackie” Pittman in 2021. “East of Ravenna”, the advanced single from the project, is meant to project hope to those still dealing with being displaced and/or grieving the loss of loved ones affected by the floods. “There is still so much left to be done and many still need our help, whether physically or financially.” He says “I wanted to do something to try to keep the focus on the region. As it stands, many are still without homes, and will be, for at least 2 more years. Natural disasters happen every day and our attention span chases the next new thing. I wanted to do something to redirect or focus to the area while also honoring the victims.” “East of Ravenna” is a return to his bluegrass roots with a modern approach and some experimentation. Coming out of the gate with a bagpipe drone, a ratchet, hammer and an anvil, Pittman lays the groundwork for the “resurrection noise” of rebuilding following a natural disaster. Resurrection Noise continues to invite the listener to the scene where we can see struggling families trying to recover, like the ones found in “Better Days”, or in scenes from the post flood riverside found in “The Gig Downstream”.

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Although edgy in places, like in the urban legend themed “Nolan’s Cave”, the music mostly weaves the traditional mountain sounds of Pittman’s roots with the driving rhythms of traditional country music. Ever the storyteller, Pittman offers up new tales and new characters to his catalog of narrative ballads like the fictional crime story “Where the Soul Goes” or the autobiographical story of his relationship with his late father’s Martin guitar “The Wildwood Flower”. A methodist pastor, Pittman even tackles matters of theology and providence in the heartfelt “The Question”. “When I sit to write, most of what comes out is what is going on around me at the time.” says Pittman. “This album is just another chapter in the story of the world through the lens I see it in. Natural disasters, relational issues, grief, hope, fear, love, hurt, pain, legacy, and mystery, it’s all there.” Pittman partners with Lexington’s J. Tom Hnatow as producer, engineer, bass, pedal steel, lead guitar, dobro, banjo, and organ. “This has Tom’s prints all over it. It’s as much of his album as mine. I couldn’t have asked for a better collaborator to make this come together.” Mixed by Lexington’s Duane Lundy (Sturgill Simpson, Ringo Starr, Justin Wells) and mastered by Justin Perkins (Mystery Room Mastering), while also adding local veterans Maggie Lander (fiddle) and Christopher Robbins (drums), Resurrection Noise delivers yet another example of why Kentucky is making the best music in the country right now.

 

Music Career / Bio:

 

Pittman’s musical story begins in the early 1970s at the grand opening of the local town drug store. His late father, from whom Pittman would later inherit his trademark Martin D-28 acoustic guitar, basically forced him to sing a Johnny Cash song, much to the delight of the crowd that had gathered there. Pittman, though he immediately received enthusiastic accolades and even tips, wasn’t havin’ it. “I hated it,” he recalls, “but I In my room, I’m playing air guitar and pretending to be Elvis, but to do it in public as a kid was really tough. It wasn’t that I struggled doing it, it was just more the fact that I was being made to do something. That ended up driving me into a phase where I refused to sing out in public at all.” Even going to a Johnny Cash concert at the age of 5 with his mother wasn’t enough to lure Pittman back into the spotlight, and transcribing the lyrics to hit songs off 45s for his father didn’t quite do the trick either—but it did lay the groundwork for the lyrical depth and flair that Pittman showed so effortlessly right off the bat with his 2019 debut Bluegrass American Dream. “My dad would pay me a dollar a song to sit down and figure the words out for him,” Pittman chuckles. “I have to really question how good I was at it because I was so young, but I guess he was able to use it. Who knows how many of the lines I’d get right at the end of the day, but I think that’s when I got my first appreciation for lyrics.” “Back when I was 7 or 8,” he continues, “country rock was really big, and ‘Lyin’ Eyes’ by The Eagles was a big hit. I remember that song specifically because there were so many verses in it. Even at that age, I could appreciate the darkness behind the cheating and the lying and everything in that song.”

 

Pittman’s resistance to performing in front of people went out the window, however, when he got the opportunity to go on a field trip as a freshman in high school. “All the girls were going,” Pittman laughs. “It was an academic competition and they had a talent category. I specifically remember the teacher saying, ‘I need somebody to fill the talent spot. You get to go on this three-day trip to Louisville and compete.’ So I raised my hand. ‘Well what’s your talent?’ she asked. And I said, ‘I sing and play guitar.’ Nobody knew I sang and played guitar—because I didn’t! So I’m thinking I’ve got six weeks between now and this talent show, and that was when I had to swallow my pride. I go to my dad and I’m like, ‘Look, I’m ready to learn how to play guitar. I want to do this.’ And my dad was like, ‘You’re crazier than hell—I can’t teach you how to play in six weeks!’ I was like, ‘Just think of the easiest bluegrass tune that you know and I’ll run with it.’ So he taught me how to play a medley of “Jimmy Brown The Newsboy” and “Wildwood Flower”, but his style of playing was like Maybelle Carter, where they played the melody and the rhythm at the same time.” The trip, alas, got cancelled, but Pittman’s life path was set. (By the way, he learned the song in four weeks). Pittman captures this story in a tribute to his Dad on Ressurection Noise with the song “The Wildwood Flower”. “There was just no running from it,” he muses. “I had an undeniable love for music, and singing came naturally to me. I’ve never put it down since.” As a tribute to his father, Pittman adopted The Fugitives band name, but he sees his work as carrying-on an even broader legacy. “I grew up in an environment where it was a common thing for people to bring their instruments over on the weekends—banjos, fiddles and guitars where everybody was singing and just having a good time. That was a really crucial aspect of my childhood. I really miss that. You don’t have that front-porch picking kind of spirit anymore, at least not where I’m at. So whatever I can do to bring it back with my music, I feel like I have to at least try.” In other words, Pittman is inviting you back home—back home to a world that still has room for community, back home to the most cherished aspects of your past and back home to yourself. You don’t have to be from Kentucky for his music to take you there, but D Boone Pittman sure does make it seem like a wonderful place to explore on the way. “East of Ravenna” can be downloaded from a non profit website that specializes in music sold for a good cause, Play It Forward. All the proceeds go towards the KSR Flood Relief fund and details are listed on the site.
 

https://www.playitforward.com/projects/494

Ressurection Noise will be available September 15, 2023 on all streaming platforms

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Email: dboonepittmanmusic@gmail.com