You’ve heard Luke Schneider play. Maybe you don’t know it but as a longtime member of the Nashville music scene, he’s played with the likes of Character, Margo Price, Teddy & The Rough Riders, William Tyler, Caitlin Rose and so many more it’d probably be impossible to list them all. He’s generally known for his performances with the pedal steel but his recently announced full-length solo album, Altar of Harmony, flips those expectations on their head. He’s still sitting behind the classic country instrument but he’s using it to create immersive, ambient soundscapes; just about the complete opposite vibe of what you’d expect from anything involving pedal steel.
The official video for the first single, “Anteludium“, is an excellent representation of the kind of sprawling, layered and transcendent works to expect. We’ve not heard the whole record yet but were lucky enough to catch him perform at DRKMTTR some months back – complete with the wall of lights shown in the video – and can confirm that this is 100% worth looking forward to. It’s best listened to extremely loud and in a place where you can chill the fuck out.
In the meantime, the writeup for the record (see the details on the video) is an interesting read as it discusses the history of New Age Music and Southern New Age Music in particular. I can’t say that’s a world I’m all too familiar with but it certainly caught the ear of Third Man Records, who will release the album on May 8th. Get your pre-order in here and stay tuned for future singles.