Feast your ears on the calming track from the genre-blending Indianapolis band, Ross Hollow.
Ross Hollow, originally the stage name for lead singer Stuart Ross, is made up of an array of talented musicians including; Ross (vocals, guitar, lead songwriter), Annalee Vilen Kwochka (vocals), Jared Horvath (bass), Vernon Marsh (drums), Jason Kahl (trumpet), and Dhruv Kulkarni (keyboard/vocals).
The band was formed back in 2017, eventually transitioning from playing in Ross’s basement to larger stages as they grew more unified and honed in on their sound as a team.
Never conforming to any one genre, they bend and sway to form a fusion of Rock, Folk, Blues, Americana, and modern Indie music. If you’re searching for a similar sound to a blend of artists like The Black Keys, Brandie Carlile, Stevie Wonder, and Nathaniel Rateliff, look no further.
Taking a deeper look into their single, “My Morning” off of their latest LP “Not Fine”, listeners are met with a soothing finger-picking acoustic guitar and Ross’s warm, heartfelt vocals. The track immediately pulls listeners in with its intimate energy, which is only enhanced by the beautiful harmonies and verse that follow by featured artist Liz Moss. Her vocals are light, airy, and extremely captivating, perfectly adding to the overall whimsical feeling of the track.
While the track occasionally swells with thicker, floating harmonies to fill up the background, the overall simpler production of guitar, vocals, and keys allow the vocalists and lyrical themes to shine through for the listener.
Lay back and enjoy the sweet serenadings of Ross Hollow and Liz Moss in their song, “My Morning”. Check out their latest album “Not Fine” while you’re at it as well, both available on all streaming platforms.
We love the light and whimsical feel of “My Morning.” Can you tell us a bit more about the inspiration behind this song?
We are happy to be a part of BuzzMusic and your coverage for so many bands! "My Morning" was one of the singles we released back in June but Stuart Ross (our lead singer/writer) wrote it in March of 2020. It was first inspired by the protests that were going on across a lot of the major cities in the U.S.A. in the summer of 2020. Historically in protests that turn violent, it can be scary, and you are not sure if you will see your loved ones after the fog clears. So much was happening in the summer of 2020: covid, natural disasters, protests, supply shortages, political division, etc. It felt like the world was on fire, and ending. The first verse and chorus are more directly related to the chaos of the world, but it turned into much more of an Indie Folk song, as a lot of the songs we write do. What we like about "My Morning" is that it can be taken in a darker direction, or in a lighter whimsical love song way.
Congratulations as well on the release of your new album, “Not Fine.” Were there any challenges you had to overcome while recording either the single or album?
We started writing and recording Not Fine right after our sophomore album Fine. We released Fine in October 2020 and for some reason, everything about it reminded us of "pre-pandemic" life and we wanted to move on. Honestly, we are just now beginning to appreciate some of the songs from Fine as we release Not Fine. A significant difference between Not Fine and Fine is that we recorded all of it at our studio (in Stuart Ross' house), so all the production, mixing, and mastering was done by Stuart. As you can imagine this cut our costs way down, but it also allowed us to spend longer on getting better takes/more production. The challenge of recording yourself is that you often spend a lot longer on songs/mixing than an engineer probably would, so it's hard to know when to move on. Another big challenge was navigating traditional promotion methods for releasing records during covid while learning new ones.
We love Liz Moss’s verse and harmonies throughout the song. What was the collaboration process like between you all? Had you collaborated with her in the past?
Stuart Ross had started to work with Liz Moss on producing some songs in early 2020 and so it only made sense to include her on some of our tunes. She sang on Old Creaky House, but "My Morning" was her first Co-write with us. Liz and Stuart wrote it remotely while she was at school, but recorded her vocal parts over a holiday break. Indie Folk is a pretty familiar genre for Liz and Stuart so it was pretty easy to get it down.
How has the reaction been so far from listeners to the album? Were there any specific messages you were hoping listeners would take away from “Not Fine” while writing it?
We had an intimate album release show at a local theater in Indianapolis back in November 2021, and people loved what they heard. We have received some good reviews and feedback online, but feel like it is just the beginning of the promotion efforts. The main message we want to communicate is that it's okay to not be fine, and we can get through these challenges together. There are so many ups and downs in life, but you don't have to get through it alone.
What's next for you?
Next, we are planning on putting out a few more music videos of the songs on the album and playing what shows we can. We already have a few shows in areas we haven't played yet (St. Louis, Nashville, and Memphis). We have released 3 full-length albums in a 3-year span and know that so many haven't heard all our music yet, so we plan on continuing to promote all our music in creative ways. We are also putting out a live album and acoustic album of our more electric-driven songs in 2022.
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