Rock Hearts Releases Latest Album Unfinished Bridges on 615 Hideaway Records.
Formed in 2013, Rock Hearts features five seasoned musicians from Southern New England with a passion for pickin’ and singin’ bluegrass and traditional country music. Now, the group has released its latest collection, Unfinished Bridges (615 Hideaway Records).
Concurrent with the new album is the release to radio of the single, Lonesome Man In A Lonesome Town. Written by William H. Billy T Thibodeau and Stanley Jordan Keach Jr., the track features 2024 IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year, Danny Paisley.
Previous releases from the album have included I Know It’s Wrong To Love You, a song David Parmley shared with Alex McLeod which Parmley’s father started writing and David ultimately finished. Big fans of the Bluegrass Cardinals, Rock Hearts rendered a fresh adaptation of the song.
Let Me Be The Best Bible was inspired by memories of Alex MacLeod’s first Sunday School teacher, his own grandmother, Marie, and his grandfather, Ed, who built the Central Baptist Church where Alex attended Sunday School as a youth. The song pays loving tribute to the faith and humility of Alex’s grandparents. Influenced by the harmony sounds of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and the brand stylings of Larry Sparks, Rock Hearts effectively renders elements from both of these acts in the song, which has regularly topped airplay charts.
With the title track, Rock Hearts were honoured to record a Mark Brink Brinkman & Eric Gnezda song and join the long list of successful bands who have covered the music of these stalwart writers. The tragedy that unfolds in Unfinished Bridges is a familiar theme; love gone wrong, leaving its stakeholders in uncharted territory, coming to grips with the fact that an iron bridge connecting the two may not be built to last. Brink and Gnezda’s original delivery was elemental, leaving room for artistic interpretation. Rock Hearts was challenged with delivering the song as it was written, but at the same time, giving it the Rock Hearts style. With the first three fiddle strokes, the listener may be prepared for a mid-tempo song, but the band rips into a double-time, while the lyrics remain at a slower pace. The arrangement works beautifully, complimenting the imagery and story line.
This is a group with a gift for crafting contemporary original songs with a traditional flair, and for finding tunes from other genres to bluegrass-ify, as well as covering songs with the band’s own unique flavour.
615 Hideaway Records has released Unfinished Bridges, the 3rd album from the band, comprised of mandolin player, Billy Thibodeau, a member of the Maine Country Music Hall of Fame; Fiddler, Austin Scelzo, selected as a Connecticut Arts Hero; Rick Brodsky on the bass); and founding members Alex MacLeod on guitar, with banjo player Joe Deetz.
Rock Hearts was an official IBMA Showcase band in 2021. The group consistently charts on radio and is highly sought-after for major festivals and venues. Rock Hearts is heralded for its entertaining stage presence, tight harmonies, and original material.
Rock Hearts
Unfinished Bridges is now available wherever great music is available for download and streaming. It is the band’s 3rd project overall and second with The 615 Hideaway Records. Recorded with Scott Vestal at his Digital Underground studio in Tennessee, many of the thirteen songs are originals by Brink Brinkman, Marc Gnezda, Rick Lang, Ted DeMille, Bob Amos, Jim Karns, Monty McClanahan, Stan Keach, Sam Tidwell, Billy Thibodeau, and Alex MacLeod. The project was engineered and mastered by Scott Vestal, who produced the album along with the members of Rock Hearts.
About The Band Rock Hearts:
Joe Deetz’s career on banjo spans over 40 years. A New England Bluegrass Boy with Joe Val, Joey has also worked with Frank Wakefield, John Herald, Back Eddy and many others. He has recorded with John Herald, Will Scarlet, the Beach Boys and Carol King. Joey was also featured on the Sesame Street recording of The Garbage Man Blues. His passion for bluegrass is evident in his tasteful, yet driving banjo and harmony singing. He lives in Mendon, MA with his wife.
Alex MacLeod grew up in bluegrass. His father and mother, Sandy and Geri, exposed him to the music early on. While his dad Sandy played in the band, his mom clogged with the Ralph Case Cloggers in Maryland. With a classic leading voice and rock-solid rhythm guitar, Alex has served as front man for several bands in the region including Northern Lights, Southern Rhode, Back Eddy, and the Iron Skillet Band. A talented songwriter, Alex has penned Starry Southern Nights, the title track from their debut album, as well as Wanderlust, their most recent single and title of their new project. He lives in Charlestown, RI with his wife and four daughters, Raechel, Maicey, Grace, and Piper.
Billy BT Thibodeau boasts an undeniable bluegrass pedigree and he brings his high tenor and lead vocals, along with his fastidious mandolin and splendiferous guitar playing to Rock Hearts. A multi-instrumentalist, Billy has been picking and singing bluegrass for several decades. Cutting his teeth with his Dad, Sam Tidwell and Uncle Bob in the Kennebec Valley Boys, he would later lead his own band, The Bill Thibodeau Band. He has also played with the Descendants of Bluegrass, Bluegrass Supply Company, and Union River Band, just to name a few. A member of the IBMA Leadership class of 2017, Billy currently teaches music and works at Rick’s Music in Cumberland, RI. He lives in Cumberland, RI.
Austin Scelzo was introduced to various fiddle traditions at Mark O’Connor’s early Berklee String Camps, learning from powerhouse players like Billy Contreras, Jason Anick, Casey Dreissen, Jeremy Kittel, Andy Reiner, Bruce Molsky, Mark O’Connor, and Christian Howes. Austin’s Bluegrass journey began with the Western CT based group the “Angry O’Haras”, then later “On the Trail”, with which he recorded fiddle and vocals. Austin is also an active bluegrass community advocate, teaching Wernick Method Jam classes, creating and maintaining the performance venue “Bluegrass Coffeehouse” and launching the Connecticut Bluegrass Music Association. Austin was recently named to the IBMA Leadership Class of 2023, nominated for the 2023 IBMA Momentum Mentor of the Year, and recognized in his home state of Connecticut as a Musical Hero.
Rick Brodsky is a multi-instrumentalist who has played within numerous musical genres over the past 35 years. Rick is a regular on the Connecticut/New York bluegrass scene and has played bass for numerous regional and national artists including Jonathan Edwards, Jeff Scroggins & Colorado, The Korey Brodsky Band, Stacy Phillips & His Bluegrass Characters, and Laura Orshaw & The New Velvet. You can hear Rick’s bass playing on several of Ben Freed’s highly acclaimed banjo albums and more recently on Korey Brodsky’s 2015 album.
