Daiana Feuer on June 1st, 2017

0

Miner‘s “A Morning Song” is a sweet, uplifting anthemic song full of claps, stomps, and a whole chorus of friends, approved by the Pope (more on that later …). It’s the first single from the folk-rock family band’s next EP, Headwaters, arriving Aug. 11. Formed in Los Angeles by husband and wife Justin and Kate Miner, along with Justin’s brother Jeremy and Tobias Urbanczyk, the band has two albums under their belt, 2014’s “Into The Morning” and 2015’s “Tuanaki.”

They were eager to keep up the pace but, in the midst of all this, Kate’s mother and two sisters were diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease, the fatal neuro-degenerative condition. Kate has since spent her energy in increasing awareness and supporting efforts to find a cure for the illness, and “A Morning Song” is a musical remedy of sorts, expressing the healing power of song in bringing people together during life’s greatest challenges.

||| Stream: “A Morning Song”

We spoke to Justin Miner for more insight into the song’s meaning and recording process.

What is the song’s message?

Justin Miner: Although opening yourself up in a time of hardship can be difficult, the inevitable obstacles life throws at you are best overcome by coming together with friends and loved ones. Or, as the first line goes, “hard times, no I don’t mind, I can get by if I got you.”

What recording decisions did you implement to give it this full, natural sound?

We ended up working with Matt Linesch on this song (who worked a bunch on the Edward Sharpe records) and he really understood the vibe and energy we were looking for right away. Everything we tracked got sent to analog tape for that warm, natural sound – and we moved pretty quickly through the tracking phase, not doing a ton of takes, trying to keep it feeling loose. So, not every voice or note is necessarily in perfect key or tune, but all the little imperfections give it character and energy. The mix process was a lot of fun because we had laid down a ton of instruments and got to choose different moments to feature them in the song – with our favorite probably being the weird flute thing that pops up in the breakdown section before the last chorus.

How many people are clapping and singing?

For the group vocal/clap/stomp day, we brought a cooler of beer and wine into the studio and invited around 15 of our friends over to hang out and sing in the live room. A few people brought their kids too so we got them singing in that last chorus as well which was a ton of fun.

How did Kate’s family members react to the song?

Actually, we were recently with Kate’s entire family in Rome attending an event for Huntington’s Disease at The Vatican, and so while we were on the trip they all got to hear the final version of the song for the first time. We also had the honor of playing a set of Miner songs at the event in the Vatican City venue Aula Paolo VI, with Kate’s two sisters joining us onstage to sing and perform with us, and afterwards we all got to meet (and in Kate’s case, hug) the Pope.