Local Music Release Roundup: Hudson K, the Pinklets, Eli Fox, Kevin Abernathy

In Music Stories, Program Notes by Matthew Everettleave a COMMENT

Here’s a look at some notable new local music releases scheduled for the spring and summer.

Hudson K
Hudson K

The synth-/experimental-pop duo Hudson K is set to release its first album in almost four years this summer. The self-titled disc, the band’s third, is the follow-up to Ouroboros and the Black Dove, from 2013. Singer/songwriter/keytar wiz Christina Horn says the new album will be a significant departure from her previous recordings. She’s built a home studio and recorded most of the music there, adding vocal tracks and Nate Barrett’s drums at Top Hat Recording Studio in South Knoxville. Tim Lee and Jason Boardman contributed guitar and “synthy” noises; Horn produced the record herself.

“After the experience of working with (male) producers on the last 2 records, I realized I wasn’t allowing my own voice to be heard,” Horn writes in a recent email exchange. “When you have a producer, they get to make a lot of the final creative decisions. While I’m still happy with those records, I know they are not a true representation of what’s been in my head and heart.”

Hudson K will play at Pilot Light on Saturday, May 6, at 8 p.m. Admission is $5. The band is unveiling the video for “Mother Nature,” the first single from Hudson K, and kicking off a PledgeMusic pre-order campaign for the album. Hudson K will be released on July 7. Horn says only 300 CDs and 300 LPs will be printed.

Kevin Abernathy
Kevin Abernathy makes music that draws on Southern rock, ’80s college rock, ’90s alt-rock and Americana, and classic arena rock. His last album, Ain’t Learned Yet, from 2015, echoed Steve Earle, John Prine, and Thin Lizzy, and that was all in one song. He’s wrapping up post-production work on the follow-up to Ain’t Learned Yet and will host an album release show at Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria on June 16. Before that, he’s playing at WDVX’s 20th-anniversary Camperfest (May 5-6).

The Pinklets
The Pinklets

The teenage sister trio of Lucy (guitar/vocals), Roxie (bass), and Eliza (drums) Abernathy has been around, in various formats, for almost a decade. (They also happen to be the daughters of Kevin Abernathy.) It’s been a while since they were notable simply for being a kid sister act—the trio’s punchy, spiky power pop led them to Bonnaroo in 2016 and the big stage at Rhythm N’ Blooms this year. They’re releasing their first album, titled simply The Pinklets, on May 12. The band’s release show will be at Relix Variety Theatre in Happy Holler on Friday, May 12, at 8 p.m. Admission is $7.

Eli Fox
Tall Tales

Like the Pinklets, high-school senior Eli Fox is yet another wunderkind who’s been prominent in the local scene for several years, first with the middle-school Mumford and Sons-style bluegrass buskers Subtle Clutch and now as a solo performer. Last year, Fox sang and played banjo, harmonica, guitar, mandolin, Dobro, and fiddle on Nothing to Say, his low-key album of foot-stomping country-folk-rock in the mode of early-’60s Bob Dylan. He’s got a new disc, Tall Tales, scheduled for release on May 17. That night, he’s playing WDVX’s Tennessee Shines live-broadcast series at Boyd’s Jig and Reel in the Old City at 7 p.m. Admission is $10.

Senior Editor Matthew Everett manages the Knoxville Mercury's arts & entertainment section, including the comprehensive calendar section—Knoxville’s go-to guide for everything worth doing in the area. You can reach Matthew at matthew@knoxmercury.com.

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