Nathaniel Riley - “Another New Year”

Photo by Jo Babb

There is absolutely nothing like a good, Rocky Mountain folk song– and simply pressing play on Nathaniel Riley’s “Another New Year” will whisk you away to the Colorado skyline.

The song begins with a variety of folksy elements, which have all been carefully selected and procured by Riley, featuring Darren Garvey on drums, Bridget Law on fiddle, Charlie Rose on banjo and pedal steel, Steve Varney on banjo, and Emma Rose adding some glorious vocal harmonies. The way that the fiddle and banjo dance together at the song’s opening is quite triumphant atop the stripped-back rhythm section. And, at this point, if you’re not already imagining yourself around a campfire, overlooking the valley below, then just wait until these vocals kick in.

Riley presents one of the most delightful tenors in the folk biz, at times reminiscent of one of our all-time favorite folksters: Gregory Alan Isakov. In fact, it was Riley’s vocal that caused us to drop what we were doing in order to get “Another New Year” on the blog in time to celebrate its day of release. And when Emma Rose joins him in delivering these lyrics, you might find yourself googling his show dates so you can catch this song in person. The lyrics themselves come across as though literature and do not linger in the superficial, which leads the listener down a wonderful path of introspection, just the way we like it.

“Another New Year” is the first release off of Nathaniel Riley’s debut album, Bird Songs, which will be available later this year. There was no release date available at time of writing, but if this track is any indication of what the rest of the LP will have in store, we are hoping that it is very soon.

-TM