Song Premiere: Cole Quest & The City Pickers, “Tall Buildings”
Warm vocals and gently tumbling musical rhythms poignantly evoke the journey from the freshness of youth through the jadedness of young adulthood to the wistful nostalgia of older adulthood on Cole Quest and The City Pickers’ version of John Hartford’s “In Tall Buildings.” Guitarist Christian Apuzzo establishes the song’s melodic line with his lilting picking before launching into his smooth baritone vocals. The other musicians—Quest (Woody Guthrie’s grandson) on Dobro, Mike Mulhollan on banjo, Matheus Verardino on harmonica, Craig Akin on bass—soon join in, lending their own sparkling layers of sound to the lullaby-like harmonies of the song. Each instrument takes a short turn on the song’s two instrumental bridges. “In Tall Buildings” appears on the band’s new album, Homegrown—their first in four years, and which also features three songs by Woody Guthrie, a Woody Guthrie/Arlo Guthrie co-write, and songs by Peter Rowan—out on July 18 on Jalopy Records.
Says singer Apuzzo about this song: “This song became my mantra ever since finding the bluegrass scene in New York City. I didn’t want too much of my life to pass me by and decided to stop and smell the flowers and dedicate my life to making music my full time priority. The fact that we’re also called the City Pickers is icing on the cake.”
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