Olden Yolk, featuring Shane Butler and Caity Shaffer, are set to release their second album Living Theatre in a few weeks on May 17th. Before it's time to enjoy the album, learn a little more about their previous single 'Cotton & Cane' with the duo below.
The story behind ‘Cotton & Cane' is… we wrote 'Cotton & Cane' over the summer of 2018 while spending time in Los Angeles. The lyrics began as an inquiry into Shane's relationship with his father; then, by chance, his father passed away shortly before we finished the song. It’s often not until someone passes away that we start to really dig into their biography, and this song became a conversation about his legacy and lineage.
Our main inspiration was… we were thinking a lot about songs that had extended verses. At the end of the song we really wanted to intensify this verse repetition and build it into an ecstatic state of tension.
My favourite lyric is…
Caity: I like "with a gas station lighter and a smile on your face". For me, it's a strong, familiar scene. It takes me there every time we sing it.
Shane: I don’t know if there is a favorite lyric. But, towards the end of the song, as it’s building to climax, I remember being really sucked into the experience of trying to get into my father’s body as he was transitioning out of this life — trying to imagine what he would see as his life flashed before him. That sent shivers up my spine.
It was made… the final recording happened live in Comp-NY studio in Los Angeles with Booker Stardrum on drums, Jarvis Taveniere playing bass, Caity on keys and vocals, and Shane on guitar and vocals.
It sounds best when… post-coffee; moving fast somewhere when you have no destination in mind.
Listen to 'Cotton & Cane' by Olden Yolk:
Check out their latest single 'Distant Episode' below:
Follow Olden Yolk:
UK live dates:
October 14th - Komedia Studio, Brighton, UK
October 15th - Lexington, London, UK
October 16th - Louisiana, Bristol, UK
October 17th - Hair & Hounds 2, Birmingham, UK
October 18th - YES, Manchester, UK
October 19th - Ritual Union Festival, Oxford, UK
