Los Angeles-based collective The Herbert Bail Orchestra blends folk-rock, countricana, and blues into one soulfully delectable dish. The band began in 2011 with Anthony Frattolillo (singer, guitarist) and Andrew Katz (accordionist), childhood friends that started writing and performing music in homage to Frattolillo’s deceased “Grandpa Jack” who they posthumously found out was born by another name…Herbert Stanley Bale.
In April, The Herbert Bail Orchestra will release its sophomore album, History’s Made At Night, a follow-up to their 2013 debut. Today, they unveil their new single, “Hometown Honey.” “This is one of those songs I’m still trying to figure out what the bigger meaning is,” says Frattolillo. “I think I grapple with time, mortality, and just that feeling of foggy windows when you’re driving down from the mountain in the rain. One of the last big road trips my lady Amy and I took with our dog Billy was from Austin to Los Angeles,” he continues. “We were visiting my lady’s family and on our way back we got lost on some cold mountain roads looking for Hot Springs. I was thinking about that adventure with Billy dog for a while, and then my grandmother passed away while I was playing her guitar. My dog Billy died in my arms a few months later on our front lawn. After that, most of these words just came to me,” he adds of the song’s inspiration. “It feels good to sing, and I get to remind myself… life’s just like the road, fleeting—and we all try to hold on to make something permanent and agreeable, but time don’t stop, nothing lasts, but if you look at the world in a certain way and keep your memories and imagination close to heart, remember the future and imagine the past, you can hold on to everything at once and everything is happening all at once, and nothing ever dies.”
That contemplative spirit is captured in the wistfully timeless feel of this road-worn rambler; “Do you have what it takes? ‘Cause it takes what you have,” Frattolillo sings, as he ponders the ups and downs ahead with a sense of sweet remembrance and optimistic resolve.
Without further ado, Mother Church Pew proudly presents “Hometown Honey” by The Herbert Bail Orchestra:
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[Click HERE to order History’s Made At Night on vinyl.]
THBO Show Dates:
Sat. April 14 – Vestal Village | Coachella
Sat. May 26 – The Grand Artique | Lightning in a Bottle
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