There must be something in the water down south these days, because those Alabama boys have been on one lately.
Back in February 2023, Muscadine Bloodline released one of the best albums of the year with Teenage Dixie, an ode to their home state, their upbringing, and the stories rooted in both. Shortly after the album’s release, the duo of Charlie Muncaster and Gary Stanton began teasing a series of covers of their favorite pop-punk songs on social media, and the fans absolutely loved it.
Whether it was at the behest of their following or if it was their plan all along, Muscadine Bloodline ultimately released a four song EP in June as an unexpected extension of the project, covering four angsty pop/punk songs that they associated with the nostalgia of their childhood and the teenage years that so heavily influenced the stories in Teenage Dixie. Titled Teenage Angst, the EP features spectacular acoustic covers of Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, Yellowcard, and Mayday Parade.
It didn’t take long for them to get back to releasing original new music, with two new tunes in November and confirmation that their next album is in the works. But fans just haven’t been able to get enough of these country-tinged teenage angst covers ever since, so luckily for us, the emo side of Muscadine Bloodline is back with another pop-punk cover, and they’ve brought on one of Alabama’s best to contribute on the track.
In the latest release for the prolific duo, Muscadine Bloodline has teamed up with up and coming troubadour Drayton Farley on an incredible cover of A Day to Remember’s late 2000s hit “Have Faith in Me.”
Check it out for yourself here:
A collaboration between Alabama heavyweights, Farley’s vocals blend beautifully alongside Stanton and Muncaster on this cover.
In a post made to Muscadine Bloodline’s Instagram a few days back, they provided some context as to how this collaboration and cover came to be.
“With Drayton Farley being from Alabama, we’ve been huge fans of him for quite some time.
After we put out ‘Teenage Angst’ he told us whenever we were ready to do A Day to Remember cover, he’d be waiting! Who’s Ready for Friday?”
Originally released by the four-piece North Florida pop-punk band on their 2009 record Homesick, “Have Faith in Me” has amassed well over 100 million streams to date on Spotify alone, proving wildly popular over the years and having impacted tons of listeners over the past decade and a half.
Here’s the original for reference:
While the state of Alabama has a rich history in music, largely stemming from the prolificacy of the FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Northern Alabama throughout the 1960s and ’70s, it seems as if the state has experienced a musical renaissance of sorts. While that may be a bit of a bold statement, it’s definitely true as far as country music goes. And independent country music in particular.
Aside from all of Muscadine Bloodline’s music over the past couple of years, Farley also had a killer album in 2023 with Twenty on High, and he followed that up with an awesome EP in Kudzu Wild. And while Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit have been a mainstay on the scene for decades now, his 2023 record Weathervanes is some of his best work yet. And that’s saying something considering his legendary career.
Moreover, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the uncanny rise of Mobile’s Red Clay Strays over the past several months, solidifying themselves as one of the biggest independent acts in the country, and other strong 2023 albums from Ritch Henderson, Ella Langley, Them Dirty Roses, Adam Hood, and Drew White, among others. Furthermore, The Mountain Grass Unit burst onto the national bluegrass scene the past year as well, and the ever mighty Taylor Hunnicutt, who has been a touring force for years, recently announced her aptly titled debut record Alabama Sound is dropping in March. There are plenty of other names making noise from Alabama too, but I’ll spare you all any further namedropping.
The fact of the matter is that the scene coming out of the Yellowhammer State is on fire right now, and it shows no signs of letting up. Muscadine Bloodline and Drayton Farley are two of the acts leading the charge, and it’s awesome seeing them team up on a tune like “Have Faith in Me.” And with a sold out show coming up together at the Ryman Auditorium on March 23, it’s possible there could be a live version in our future.
Muscadine Bloodline summed it all up pretty well in an Instagram post yesterday, while also providing more insight into what’s to come with their music. I can’t stress it enough, big things are happening out of Alabama tight now.
“We’ve gotten all we ever wanted out of music, and 2023 was the year to not make music with ambitious intent. Finally, we put out a record in ‘Teenage Dixie’ that felt like the end of a 7-year journey finding ‘our thing.’
Then, the ‘Teenage Angst’ EP was just the product of having fun. That’s how we’ve approached writing this new record we got coming this year…’Is it our thing? And is it fun?’ And then we proceeded to mess around and write and recorded the best record we’ve ever made.
The only caveat this year is we wanna champion artists we love and, more specifically, artists from our home state of Alabama. It’s been incredible to see our fellow hometown boys, the Red Clay Strays, finally getting the recognition they deserve. Our girl, Taylor Hunnicutt, just announced her debut record, and guys like Drayton Farley, who goes toe to toe with any singer/songwriter out right now (side note: they are all independent).
So, in the spirit of ‘Our Thing, Fun, & Alabama’ we decided to put out a cover of A Day To Remember song with our friend Drayton Farley. A band all three of us grew up on. This will be the last song before we start rolling out the album.”
If you somehow missed the Teenage Angst EP, but like what you heard with “Have Faith in Me,” check out Muscadine Bloodline’s cover of Mayday Parade’s “Jamie All Over” below.
And make sure to give their Teenage Dixie album and Farley’s Twenty on High a listen, too.
