Ohio outfit Beartooth today reveal The Blackbird Session EP – a collection of tracks from their acclaimed 2018 record Disease reimagined at the famous Blackbird Studio in Nashville. Flexing their genre-crossing creativity while exploring lead singer Caleb Shomo’s musical roots, Beartooth have emerged with folked-up, stripped-down, acoustic renderings of their songs ‘Afterall‘, ‘Clever‘, ‘Disease‘ and ‘You Never Know‘. Alongside the ambitious release, Beartooth are also unveiling a documentary capturing the session it was made.
The band recorded the EP in a day at the famed Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The Blackbird Studios is owned by John McBride, an iconic producer and engineer in country music who has worked with artists such as Garth Brooks and Martina McBride, as well as pop titans Train. The idea of metal band Beartooth recording a stripped-down folk-inspired album in Blackbird Studios was a welcomed project by McBride, who also served as guest engineer for the EP.
“When the idea came up to do acoustic sessions, immediately my mind went to family holidays. Constantly surrounded by singing old hymns and harmonies on harmonies. The idea of taking Beartooth in a direction of my first musical moments in life felt right,” frontman Caleb Shomo explains, adding:
“The songs came out better than I could have ever imagined. A massive, MASSIVE part of that was Blackbird. The love I have for that place goes beyond any studio in existence. The rooms are the best in the world, the gear is the best in the world. All of this would be enough to make it feel like home, but the icing on the cake is the people who work there. Every time I walk in, it’s nothing but good vibes and hard workers.
“We had the honour of the studio owner and mastermind John McBride requesting to engineer our session. This led to an environment that was amazing and free. No limits, no worries, just playing and singing…. This is 100% live. No metronome, minimal rehearsal, just a bunch of musicians who love what they do getting in a room and going for it. If you want to see and hear Beartooth stripped down to one of its rawest and most emotional forms, please enjoy.”