BLAKE REID BAND
Another Way Home (Condensed)
On their new album Another Way Home, the Blake Reid Band secure their status as one of Canada’s preeminent country music outfits with nine songs that celebrate the rural way of life and all the joy and (sometimes) hardship that goes with it. The follow-up to Reid’s 2015 solo album Rust, Another Way Home finds the Calgary, Alberta singer/songwriter boldly crafting a new Americana-focused sound with his most trusted collaborators, with the end results being a blend of roof-raising anthems and heart-wrenching ballads.
After basic tracks were laid down at Nashville’s Sound Emporium with producer Aben Eubanks (Kelly Clarkson) and some of Music City’s finest players, Another Way Home was polished off in Calgary with the full Blake Reid Band line-up displaying their dynamic chemistry forged during a solid year of touring.
The album is actually the continuation of the No Roads In documentary project, directed by Josh Wong and released in 2017 to international acclaim. Another Way Home includes six songs also featured in No Roads In, re-recorded in the studio, but with the same intention to celebrate the pure thrill that comes from making music with close friends.
The album’s first single, “Penny,” is almost a perfect summation of everything Reid set out to achieve, with its message to savor living in the moment set against a modern approach to classic bluegrass and gospel themes. By taking the unapologetic stand to do things their own way on Another Way Home, the Blake Reid Band has made an album that is pure country, but also pure soul.
BLAKE REID BAND
Another Way Home (Long Bio)
On their new album Another Way Home, the Blake Reid Band secure their status as one of Canada’s preeminent country music outfits with nine songs that celebrate the rural way of life and all the joy and (sometimes) hardship that goes with it. The follow-up to Reid’s 2015 solo album Rust, Another Way Home finds the Calgary, Alberta singer/songwriter boldly crafting a new Americana-focused sound with his most trusted collaborators, with the end results being a blend of roof-raising anthems and heart-wrenching ballads.
After basic tracks were laid down at Nashville’s Sound Emporium with producer Aben Eubanks (Kelly Clarkson) and some of Music City’s finest players, Another Way Home was polished off in Calgary with the full Blake Reid Band line-up displaying their dynamic chemistry forged during a solid year of touring. Reid says, “As this is the debut album for the Blake Reid Band, the idea for the album’s direction, writing and song selection was to return to our roots. We chose to title the album after the song ‘Another Way Home,’ because it’s really about that—finding a different route to our centre, both personally and musically.”
The album is actually the continuation of the No Roads In documentary project, directed by Josh Wong and released in 2017 to international acclaim. Based on the simple premise of capturing the band over a week of recording at an abandoned house in the middle of a thousand acres of prairie wheat fields, the film is a moving exploration of the creative process, and a celebration of the pure thrill that comes from making music with close friends. Another Way Home includes six songs also featured in No Roads In, re-recorded in the studio, but with the same intention.
One of those is the song that gave the documentary its title, of which Reid says, “I wrote ‘No Roads In’ as kind of a mission statement that we’re going to do it our way and no one else’s, while still honoring those who came before us. The idea for the song came from a Waylon Jennings comment, ‘Once you’ve tried it everyone else’s way, there’s only one way left to try—and that’s your way.’ We are doing it our own way on this album by not trying to fit into a specific genre, and just writing and recording music that resonates with us.”
Along with Jennings, Reid adds that he drew inspiration from Willie Nelson while writing Another Way Home, specifically after reading about how Willie found his true voice once he decided to leave the Nashville scene and return home to Texas. That unapologetic attitude is the foundation of many of the album’s other standout tracks such as “Rollin’ Coal,” about maintaining your humanity while carving your own path, and “Big Train,” based on a true story of Reid’s grandfather and his friend, Canadian country music icon Wilf Carter, getting into a standoff with Canadian Pacific railroad officials during a hunting trip.
Conversely, Reid shows off his more reflective and tender side on “Three Quarter Time,” which extols the benefits of being with loved ones rather than chasing personal gain, and “Rural Route Lullaby,” a tale of a small town love affair that refuses to die. The album ends, fittingly, with “Move On,” a confident statement about letting go of the past and embracing new possibilities one day at a time. As Reid explains, he’s learned to adopt that philosophy and apply it to his writing over the past few years. “This being my third album, I feel I’ve finally found my sound. Another Way Home is a reflection of both who I am as an artist and as a person. I believe you can hear that in the lyrics and the performances. There’s more of my soul in this record than in anything I’ve done before.”
The album’s first single, “Penny,” is almost a perfect summation of everything Reid set out to achieve; a message to savor living in the moment set against a modern approach to classic bluegrass and gospel themes.
As country music undergoes what many believe is a long-overdue assessment of what it truly represents in today’s society, it is artists like Blake Reid who are driving that change with songs that not only express his own deepest desires, but also those of people trying their best to make their own small corners of the world a little bit better. Because, eventually, we’re all going to have to find Another Way Home.