Stephen Britt is a singer-songwriter from Asheville, North Carolina. His band, Ugly Runner, put out their debut EP, \u201cRomanticizer,\u201d with Cleopatra Records in January, 2020. It was aggressive and raw, with little room for sorrow or sentiment. The band parted ways during quarantine, and in late July of 2020, Stephen enrolled in school at Full Sail University to pursue a BFA in Creative Writing. Taking a break from music didn\u2019t last long. He began working on what would become his debut solo album, \u201cBite A Lemon\u201d on August 8th. He wanted to touch on all the aspects of rock and roll that have inspired him throughout his life as an aspiring songwriter. With \u201dBite A Lemon,\u201d you get the familiar raw, aggressive, unpolished rock and roll, but it doesn\u2019t end there. The record is laden with acoustic guitar, vocal harmonies, and relaxation, but it never loses the soul of rock and roll. With that, Stephen Britt presents an album that from start-to-finish should have something for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBite A Lemon\u201d was written and recorded at Stephen Britt\u2019s home in Asheville, North Carolina, from August 8th to September 8th, 2020. The album was produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Stephen himself, and while it might show at times, it\u2019s exactly what he was going for. Stephen\u2019s friend, roommate, and local musician, Garett Hatch, is featured on various tracks throughout the 38-minute album playing bass or guitar. Stephen also had his friend and local musician, Ben Survant (Natural Born Leaders), lay down a saxophone solo in the opening track, \u201cElevator Toe Jam\u201d to kick off the album, and he shows up again in the upbeat soul track, \u201cLeft The Party.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Says Stephen, \u201cGoing into the quarantine of 2020, I wanted to create an album with intent. No filler. Of course, that\u2019s the plan with every release, but to really sit down and trim the fat is something I\u2019ve never done. It\u2019s also not something you were able to do in the pre-COVID days, where you go into a studio, record everything you\u2019ve prepared and that\u2019s what you put out. It was nice to be able to sit with the material as I made it, and really create an intentional collection of what I considered the most timeless 12 songs I could write at the moment. I believe the intent of \u2018Bite A Lemon\u2019 is to not only be an outlet for me to say some things I\u2019ve wanted to say, but also to pay tribute to the history of rock and roll with an eclectic blend of (hopefully) timeless rock and roll songs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy friend and roommate, Garett Hatch, had just released a solo album in August, 2020 (\u2018A Place With No Name\u2019). I really enjoyed it, and thought I would give it a shot. I didn\u2019t want to use any of my older songs. I really just wanted to write and record an album within a month. At some point during this process, Garett heard a demo version of a song I wrote at the beginning of quarantine called\u00a0\u2018Bite A Lemon\u2019\u00a0and demanded it go on the album. It\u2019s the only song from the record not written between August 8th and September 8th, and it\u2019s funny how I considered this track only a\u00a0\u2018throwaway\u2019\u00a0back in March and now it\u2019s the title track to the record.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To support the new release Stephen is currently working on a video for the track \u201cImaginary World\u201d which he aims to\u00a0release by the middle of October. He\u2019s still figuring out the live production of \u201cBite A Lemon,\u201d but with the talent of his friends in the Asheville area, it will surely be a lot of fun!
In closing Stephen has this to impart, \u201cI know there\u2019s a message I want people to take away from\u00a0\u2018Bite A Lemon,\u2019\u00a0but I think I\u2019m still trying to figure out what it means to me. The one thing I know is that it\u2019s as honest as I could be without being too on-the-nose. The entire process was a whirlwind of guitars on porches, too many cigarettes, and not enough sleeping. I hope by the end of the album people love rock and roll a little bit more than they did before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBite A Lemon\u201d will be released online everywhere on September 25th, 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To Purchase \u201cBite A Lemon\u201d:<\/strong>https:\/\/stephenbrittmusic.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n