Listen to their new song with lyrics right here!
Holy Smoke. The practice of setting fire to gifts meant for the gods is an ancient one — because deities are presumed to inhabit the heavens above and smoke rises, the connection was made that burning items designated as religious offerings would result in these oblations being transported to their intended recipients. Holy Smoke. Communicating with the heavens.
Music can be described as another of man’s attempts at communicating with the heavens. A mythical, mystical form of prayer. For most of us regular schmoes, music inspires toe tapping, perhaps humming along and, for some lucky folks, full-on head-banging. Getting ‘Tuned In’ to that feeling happened for many of us when we first heard rock n roll… That feeling of falling in love with rock ‘n’ roll music on a transistor radio… a hi-fi stereo… a dashboard stereo… internet streaming radio… satellite radio… It was communicating with the heavens. That IS rock n roll.
Falling in love with rock ‘n’ roll. That feeling is what Todd Erickson (vox/lyrics/bass), John Edwards (guitars), and John Nunan (drums/keys) describe as the underlying and unifying factor behind Holy Smoke. This and the fact that Holy Smoke’s members have been swimming in the same musical pond in Portland, Maine – even sharing stages while in different bands and each other’s bands – for over 20 years. One could say these three seasoned rock troubadours were basically fated to end up in the same band together, sooner or later. The results of their partnership and recent recordings certainly prove that their stars have aligned for a musical purpose.
We can debate the merits of celestial inspirations to the moon and back… One thing is clear, Holy Smoke have recorded a powerful rock protest anthem in “Is This America?”. Holy Smoke’s answer to America’s past and present battle to accept itself as “a nation of immigrants” is a straight up rock n roll punch-in-the-face with three chords and the truth. Soaring guitars. Driving bass and stomping drums. Potent lyrics and vocals that question America’s “Land of the Free” status and deliver an “I can’t breathe” message loud and clear. All this is wrapped into a Grammy-worthy production that will have listeners sharing, playlisting, and hopefully asking themselves, “Is This America?”.
In honoring the immigrants who built America before them, (Holy Smoke’s John Nunan immigrated from the UK) perhaps Holy Smoke is communicating with the heavens? You decide after cranking up this rock n roll challenge… You just might fall in love with rock ‘n’ roll all over again.
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