Winter Grain was formed in early 2017 out of the ashes of an old band. Kate Anderson (vocals), Secily Saunders (guitar, vocals), and Tim Neu (guitar, vocals) sought out friends Tara Shupe (mandolin, fiddle) and Melissa Collins (cello) to record a new collection of songs. Teaming up with producer Ryan Hadlock (The Lumineers, Brandi Carlile, Vance Joy) for a rain soaked week at Bearcreek Studio near Seattle, WA, the group captured their self titled debut EP – Winter Grain.
Lyrics
Breaking Glass
The highway ain't a home.
Everybody comes; everybody goes.
I’m an old seed. I follow where that
Wind blows And float the river as she flows.
I’m a bonfire; I’m a live grenade.
Only break this glass in case of emergency.
This is the final straw. This is the line in the sand.
This is the click of a trigger. You better get out while you can.
Werewolves and vampires--monsters are popular to hire.
Oooo lucky you! Let your weary eyes retire
Cause if I’m an angel I’m a liar.
No your martyrdom ain't welcome here.
Caught you in your lust when it should be fear.
No the faint of heart don’t earn these tears.
No heart Is born a stone.
The walls around them we build they are our own.
Let me be clear -- leave me alone.
You don’t wanna make me change my tone.
Cause I’m the blue wire In the atomic age
And I told you only to break this glass
In case it was an emergency.
And I’m a bonfire; I’m a live grenade.
And I told you only to break this glass
In case it was an emergency.
This is the final straw. This is the line in the sand.
This is the click of a trigger.
You better get out while you can.
Lyrics/music K. Anderson
K. Anderson vocals
T. Neu vocals, guitar
S. Saunders vocals, slide guitar
T. Shupe fiddle
M. Collins cello
T. Carroll percussion
Solitary Trees
I can't be created; I can't be destroyed.
I'm the root of hatred; I am tears of joy.
I am lightning; I'm a hole in the sky.
Put your neck to my neck and we'll harmonize.
You sing a C, I'll sing an F, and I'll give you my heart
If you give me your time.
Gone, gone, gone are the days
When I thought that we'd always be loved.
They stole, fought, broke all our trust
And still they find all the ways they can blame us.
But still there's no better feeling than
Being caught between these lines.
A world without ending, another who dares defy
for us to be theirs.
Won't you put your hand in mine?
Won't you put your hand in mine?
Gold, gold --
Easy to bend, measured and sold.
For the warmth of your skin,
Your touch is cold.
But no one can change it,
Your soul is gold, gold, gold.
We are more than what is done to us.
We are surviving the disastrous.
And our hearts crack like seeds in our chest
Needing an opening to grow.
Like solitary trees we are stronger than we know,
so much stronger than we know.
Gold, gold --
Easy to bend, measured and sold.
For the warmth of your skin,
Your touch is cold.
But no one can change it,
Your soul is gold, gold, gold.
Lyrics K. Anderson, Music T. Neu
K. Anderson vocals
T. Neu vocals vocals, guitar
S. Saunders vocals, guitar, piano
T. Shupe vocals, fiddle
M. Collins cello
Don't Force It
Don't force it, just let it ride.
And when you take it baby,
Take your time.
No need to space it.
Accentuate the positive, let it live.
No, no don't fake it baby.
You know I like, yeah I like it.
Can I double dip to taste you twice?
No don't force it.
License my hands.
Won't you let em go, let em roam,
Let em discover you inch by inch?
Yeah they want you bad.
No don't pace it.
We've got nothin but time.
Don't divide, don't hide
What you want.
What's mine is yours, what's yours is mine.
Oh honey this could take all night.
Lyrics K. Anderson; Music S. Saunders
K. Anderson vocals
T. Neu guitar
S. Saunders guitar, bass
T. Shupe mandolin
M. Collins cello
T. Carroll percussion
The Fare
I take it all back
I don’t want to live like that
With a diamond on your hand.
Cuz promises
And all those burning bridges
Are more than riddled with chance…..no
The sigh of the gravel never pitied that fall.
And the fare for the ticket isn’t fair at all.
They’re just tokens of the ruin that that wrecking ball left you.
I envy how you smoke,
the way you can let it ago once was a part of you.
And I think of the words but choke,
Too terrified to hope when I know I’ve got no reason to …no
The sigh of the gravel never pitied that fall.
And the fare for the ticket isn’t fair at all.
They’re just tokens of the ruin that that wrecking ball left you.
No don’t forget it’s all been done before.
Don’t all those excuses suddenly feel so poor.
Take it light on your pride that the light in the dark
Never was the shore sent to guide you.
I take it all back,
No I don’t want a love like that.
Go out and get it if you can.
Oh but heed this advice:
there’s compromise and there’s sacrifice.
Just know where you stand.
The sigh of the gravel never pitied that fall.
And the fare for the ticket isn’t fair at all.
They’re just tokens of the ruin that that wrecking ball left you.
Lyrics/music K. Anderson
K. Anderson vocals
T. Neu vocals, guitar
S. Saunders vocals, guitar
T. Shupe fiddle
M. Collins cello
T. Carroll percussion
The Wall
I built a wall and I gotta say
I’m proud of it.
It isn’t tall but I’m thinking it will
Do the trick; My favorite bricks and mortar.
Now that it’s strong maybe I would like
To make it pretty.
But putting mud on to fill the cracks and space in-between--
Now that seems much more fitting.
But it keeps my heart safer now
Cause hearts bleed
When they hear the sound of another.
I dug a moat all around my wall
To drown my blues. But they just float
It’s beautiful to see through the hues.
You think you’re strong and good at breaking my defenses.
But I think you’re wrong, miscalculating my good senses.
And all you’ll get is this wall.
Cause hearts bleed when they hear the sound of another.
And my wall keeps my heart safe for now. For now.
I built a wall all around my heart
I built a wall all around my heart
I built a wall all around my heart and it keeps me safe
For now.
Lyrics/Music K. Anderson, S. Saunders
K. Anderson vocals
T. Neu vocals, guitar
S. Saunders vocals, guitar
T. Shupe mandolin, fiddle
M. Collins cello