Features
Ingram Hill Warms Up
The band will kick things off September 7 at The Music Mill in Indianapolis and will hit mostly clubs and theatres across the South and Midwest through the middle of November. Scheduled stops include Schubas Tavern in Chicago (September 9), Exit / In in Nashville (September 12), the Varsity Theatre in Baton Rouge, La. (September 20), the Peachtree Tavern in Atlanta (October 3), Mercury Lounge in New York City (October 11), and the Sundance Chalet in Wausau, Wisc. (November 17).
Additional dates are expected.
Tickets for a few shows are available through Ticketmaster.
California, Ingram Hill’s second full-length album, was recorded with producer Oliver Lieber (Paula Abdul, BB Mak, The Corrs) at his hilltop studio in Los Angeles. Band members uprooted themselves temporarily from their homes in Memphis thinking a trip to the City of Angels might provide them with some fresh perspective.
Vocalist Justin Moore said they soon discovered some surprising things about Southern California, including the fact that it can get awfully chilly when the sun goes down.
“The title is as figurative as it is literal,” Moore said. “It’s about the surprises of everything that goes into making a record for a major label: what you think will happen and what actually happens.”
The album also marks the first time the band has collaborated with outside writers, something Moore says breathed new life into the recording process.
“A lot of this was done collectively,” the singer said. “And a lot was co-written with outside writers. It was nice to get those fresh ideas.”
Guest writers on the disc include Whiskeytown’s Mike Daly, Better Than Ezra‘s Kevin Griffin, and Adam Watts and Andy Dodd, who wrote and produced the hit song, “What I’ve Been Looking For,” from the phenomenally successful High School Musical soundtrack.
Moore adds that fans of Ingram Hill might notice a difference in the band’s sound when they listen to the new album.
“The last record we did on Pro Tools. We’d fix everything, but in doing that you take the human element out of it. We made a conscious effort to avoid that as much as possible this time and make it feel like four guys that went in there and played.”