better days

Sonia Tetlow

Sonia Tetlow's latest record, “better days,” was released October 25 2022. Recorded mostly live at Marigny Studios (New Orleans) over a long weekend during the summer of 2022, the album captures the spontaneous joy of veteran musicians coming together to create after years of pandemic isolation. Paul Sanchez produced the record and brought

Sonia Tetlow's latest record, “better days,” was released October 25 2022. Recorded mostly live at Marigny Studios (New Orleans) over a long weekend during the summer of 2022, the album captures the spontaneous joy of veteran musicians coming together to create after years of pandemic isolation. Paul Sanchez produced the record and brought together Mary Lasseigne on bass and harmony vocals, Glenn Hartman on keys, Jonathan Pretus on electric guitar, percussion, and harmony vocals, and Andre Bohren on drums, lap steel, harmony vocals, and percussion. Tetlow played acoustic guitar, mandolin, and tenor banjo and sang lead vocal. Ben Lorio engineered the session, and the atmosphere in the studio was open and joyous and a beautiful creative collaboration ensued. Though everyone had played together as individuals in some capacity over the years, the first time everyone played together as a band was when the session began. Three days later they had recorded 11 songs (10 Tetlow originals and 1 song by Paul Sanchez).

After years of creating in fits and starts as Tetlow (and everyone else) navigated the challenging and thwarting environment of the pandemic, the intention behind making this album was to create a little more light in the world. The songs range from meditations and reflections to poking fun and persisting. If listeners experience even a fraction of the joy that went into the making, "better days" will help to make some better days indeed.

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better days 4:45

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be the light 3:14

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happy just to be 5:23

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been tryin to tell ya 3:10

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come what may 3:34

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foolin me 4:06

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in our hands 3:45

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kicked the covid 3:32

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take a breath 4:49

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10

won't give in 4:57

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11

lost heart 3:49

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Summertime

Sonia Tetlow

A rockin' and rollin' classic Tetlow tune reimagined with the band she recorded her 2017 album "Now" with.

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Summertime 3:25

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Now

Sonia Tetlow

An electric, pulsing, and fresh soundscape, Sonia Tetlow's new album is an uncompromising and uplifting rock 'n roll nod to the possibility of "Now."

Sonia Tetlow is musician who studies the craft of song, a songwriter who performs with abandon, giving herself freely to the moment of live music making. While Tetlow’s music career has spanned from

An electric, pulsing, and fresh soundscape, Sonia Tetlow's new album is an uncompromising and uplifting rock 'n roll nod to the possibility of "Now."

Sonia Tetlow is musician who studies the craft of song, a songwriter who performs with abandon, giving herself freely to the moment of live music making. While Tetlow’s music career has spanned from “punker snarls to banjo pickin' reflection,” she has always been a rock and roller at heart. It’s been three years since Tetlow has released a solo record (A Place for Everyone, November 2014), and roughly one year since she announced her departure from alterna-grass band Roxie Watson. Her new record, “Now,” signals a new era for Tetlow.

Though the breadth of her musical journey shines through, there is no room for compromise--this is Tetlow at her purest, in songwriting and soundscape. “I’ve never been afraid to put it all out there in song,” she comments. Heavy topics, such as the passing of Tetlow’s father earlier this year, clearly inform a number of the songs on the record; yet many, including “Now,” ring determined, hopeful, uplifting. “Essentially [”Now”] is a song that’s about trying to get out of my own way,” she explains. “It’s the last song that I wrote for the album and it made sense that it would sort of culminate in that...a lot of these songs are about reconciling with the past and trying to live in the moment and be at peace with it.”

Album credits:

Josh Birmingham – drums, percussion, harmony vocals Luke Campolieta – additional guitars Matt Henderson – Rhodes keyboard, Moog synth Jimmy “Bones” McAlpin – electric guitar Amy Ray – harmony vocals Seersha – harmony vocals Sonia Tetlow – acoustic guitar, vocals Ben Williams – bass, harmony vocals

Amy Ray appears courtesy of Indigo Girls on “Hard Fought Year” and “Tripline”

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Now 3:51

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Hard Fought Year 4:35

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That's Alright by Me 3:42

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Slow Burning 5:14

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Inside Out 4:01

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Tripline 5:28

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Trick Coin 2:49

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Numb 4:55

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Don't Hold Me to It 2:53

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Grains of Sand 4:03

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A Place for Everyone

Sonia Tetlow

Recorded half in New Orleans and half in Atlanta this collection of songs combines the musical landscapes and communities of both cities into one album, featuring performances by Amy Ray, Paul Sanchez, Craig Klein, Michelle Malone and many more.

Own Way Home

Sonia Tetlow

Recorded at Piety Studios in New Orleans, Own Way Home, mixes indie rock angst with NOLA grooves and the poetry of Sonia Tetlow's songwriting. Featuring guest appearances by some of NOLA's finest musicians, including Shamarr Allen, Paul Sanchez and more!

Herman Put Down the Gun

"Songwriting at its absolute best. The imagery is stunning" -- Georgianne Nienaber, The Huffington Post.

Comprised of former members of Cowboy Mouth, Michelle Malone and the Low Down Georgia Revue and STB, Herman Put Down The Gun is a band based on songs and the swelling sounds that bring them to life; harmony, melody, the sweet soul, the rock

"Songwriting at its absolute best. The imagery is stunning" -- Georgianne Nienaber, The Huffington Post.

Comprised of former members of Cowboy Mouth, Michelle Malone and the Low Down Georgia Revue and STB, Herman Put Down The Gun is a band based on songs and the swelling sounds that bring them to life; harmony, melody, the sweet soul, the rock edge. In a tradition reminiscent of the The Pretenders, Herman creates music that hints at different genres while always sounding uniquely their own, a blend they like to call Rockit-Pop.

Herman formed in Atlanta in December 2007 when friends Sonia Tetlow, Lee Kennedy & Linda Bolley decided to get together and make the music they wanted in the way they wanted, together as a collaborative band. Each brings their stellar musicianship and unique voice to the ever-evolving sound of the group.

A couple of months after forming, Herman was given the opportunity to spend a weekend at a studio in New Orleans and quickly recorded ten songs. These songs are a snapshot of the band at its beginning and a glimpse of where it’s heading.

from a seed of sand

Sonia Tetlow

Organic and musical, melodies of voice and guitar woven into portraits of sound, poems of song.

Rockin' by night and writing by day, her latest solo effort, "From a Seed of Sand," was written on the back of the tour bus while Tetlow toured as the bass player for New Orleans rockers, Cowboy Mouth. Day by day, town by town as the muses struck and

Organic and musical, melodies of voice and guitar woven into portraits of sound, poems of song.

Rockin' by night and writing by day, her latest solo effort, "From a Seed of Sand," was written on the back of the tour bus while Tetlow toured as the bass player for New Orleans rockers, Cowboy Mouth. Day by day, town by town as the muses struck and the music flowed, the songs came together. She recorded it song at a time whenever the CM tour schedule afforded her some time in the studio.

Called, "mellow but soulfully intoxicating," by Atlanta's Stomp and Stammer magazine, "From a Seed of Sand" reflects Tetlow's continued growth as a musician and songwriter. With this album, she approached each song like a canvas, painting the different colors of sound with the voices of each instrument. At once both a contrast to earlier works like "Spit" and "Swerve," and a clear evolution of the same artistic vision, "From a Seed of Sand" seduces the listener with sounds and space that both lull and stir. With beautiful and intricate guitar work and lyrics both plain and poetic, this album soars, honestly, humanly, in that magic way that music does when left alone to breathe.

Swerve

STB

"Soaring pipes and equally snarling guitar work... tight-as-a-noose approach and knack for well thought upon lyrical ins-and-outs.." Michael Andrews, FLAGPOLE

"Atlanta's Sonia Tetlow Band, or "STB" for those like myself cursed with marginal rather than total recall, is the proud parent of a fiery new long-player it has christened Swerve. Comprised

"Soaring pipes and equally snarling guitar work... tight-as-a-noose approach and knack for well thought upon lyrical ins-and-outs.." Michael Andrews, FLAGPOLE

"Atlanta's Sonia Tetlow Band, or "STB" for those like myself cursed with marginal rather than total recall, is the proud parent of a fiery new long-player it has christened Swerve. Comprised of Ms. Tetlow, holding down both guitar and vocal duties, bassist Lee Kennedy and drummer Becky Shaw, the powerful STB prefers its rock and roll be prepared from scratch, using only the basic ingredients, leaving no fat behind on its plate. In the process of cranking out inspired tunes-a-plenty, the band also manages to breathe much-needed new life into the rapidly stagnating pool of power trios that matter." -- FLAGPOLE

"More like super-charged poetry than standard rock and roll fare, STB has been compared to Patti Smith, Siouxsie & the Banshees, the Stooges, and early Pretenders... Comparisons fail to do justice, however, to STB's undeniable individuality... With Becky Shaw on drums laying down incessant rhythmic hooks, Lee Kennedy playing sinuous, soul-infused bass, and Sonia Tetlow's edgy guitar and vocals soaring over the whole thing, STB delivers a riveting show from start to finish." -- ROCKRGRL Magazine (Sept/ Oct 2001)

Spit

STB

"Slaps your face like the first time you heard Patti Smith blow dust out of the radio." -- Hal Horowitz, Atlanta Press Magazine

"Those who missed the late-70's and early-80's explosion of often exhilarating alternative music - then called punk although in retrospect it wasn't all that punky - can relive those heady years when listening to this

"Slaps your face like the first time you heard Patti Smith blow dust out of the radio." -- Hal Horowitz, Atlanta Press Magazine

"Those who missed the late-70's and early-80's explosion of often exhilarating alternative music - then called punk although in retrospect it wasn't all that punky - can relive those heady years when listening to this incredibly accomplished debut release. Atlanta's Sonia Tetlow Band, reduced to their initials, grab wiry, edgy melodies and wrap them around a tight three-piece that knows when to play loud and when to lay back, resulting in an album as incendiary as the first Pretenders disc of anything I've heard in the 20 years since.

Tetlow's husky voice, a ringer for a Chrissy Hynde/ Siouxie Sioux combination, alternately sputters and purrs, driving the songs down a bumpy road they call agit-pop, while making the most of a three-piece lineup. Even without printed lyrics, you'll be able to sing every one of these songs after the first listen, but it's the raging energy here, especially exemplified by bassist Lee Kennedy's jazz-like adeptness, that slaps your face like the first time you heard Patti Smith blow dust out of the radio.

Poetic, tuneful and, above all, rocking with a barely contained intensity, the STB locks into a groove and hangs it tight. Whether it's the grinding, slowly creeping closing track "Night" of the crisp brevity of "Running Out of Time," this album is as timeless as the best, and most classic releases of punk's early hey-day. Ignore the blurry cover, nondescript art, blandly initialed band moniker and vaguely offensive title, and dig into one of the most powerful first albums from an Atlanta band in years." -- Hal Horowitz" - (Above review by Hal Horowitz, Atlanta Press)

"Snarling, frantic, yet downright majestic." - (Jeff Clark, Stomp And Stammer)

"Sonia Tetlow is a little package of high explosives with a short fuse. Her full-length debut as STB is a surprisingly powerful collection of edgy and agitated rock music which finds her singing in world-weary voice." - (Lee Smith, Southeast Performer)