To Rise You Gotta Fall [CD]

2018 release. After nearly a decade spent with the Gramblers, recent high-profile collaborations (Phil Lesh, Infamous StringDusters, Ryan Adams), and a split from her husband and musical mentor, vocalist and songwriter Nicki Bluhm is stepping out on her own with her new album, To Rise You Gotta Fall. The songs were written over a two-year period in Bluhm's life and chronicle her fundamental life changes, which found the West Coast native living in Nashville, TN. "These songs are the conversations I never got to have, the words I never had the chance to say, and the catharsis I wouldn't have survived without," she says. Recorded in Memphis, TN at legendary Sam Phillips Recording, Bluhm brought in producer Matt Ross-Spang (Margo Price, Jason Isbell), for these live band, analog sessions. The studio band includes Will Sexton (guitar), Ross-Spang (guitars), Ken Coomer (drums and percussion), Al Gamble (Hammond B3), Rick Steff (piano), Dave Smith (bass), with Sam Shoup (string arrangements) and various special guests. To Rise You Gotta Fall tells the story of a woman searching for light among darkness and reveals her emergence as a powerful songwriter and vocalist of great depth and immediacy.