Honest, the new LP from Ordinary Elephant is available everywhere today via Berkalin Records. The album was recorded in Nashville and produced by Neilson Hubbard, and its 11 tracks explore pressing beyond the confines of others’ expectations and pursuing a wholehearted and authentic life. The duo, who won the 2017 International Folk Music Association’s Artist of the Year Award, sing of hardship rimmed with hope, facing difficult truths, and pursuing what you love, no matter what others think. Ordinary Elephant uses their art to remind themselves and show us all that we as humans are capable of being bigger than our environments, and that cycles can be broken.
LISTEN: HONEST
From a discussion about a “taboo” love and coming to terms with and overcoming the boundaries of being raised in an area historically entrenched in racism, to acknowledging the pain of soldiers at war and post-combat veterans, every song is heavy with meaning, the minimialism of the band’s sound allows the messages to shine through. Ordinary Elephant, comprised of Crystal and Pete Damore, set aside the work they’d done previously, as a veterinary cardiologist and a computer programmer, respectively, in order to focus on making music. Several years ago, they threw all caution to the wind and hit the road in their van and travel trailer. In song after song, the Damores take on what it means to follow your heart and eschew all the expectations, assumptions, and limitations projected upon you by others. They also use their own life experience to point out that the “safe” route can be anything but safe. “I had a safe job and was on a safe life trajectory, financially,” Crystal says, “but those things were like a safety rail you reach for — a habit, a comfortable familiarity… something you’re expected to reach for. I was letting those things hold me up instead of learning to stand on my own.”
With Ordinary Elephant, it’s always about telling the story in the truest, kindest way. “You will wonder if it’s worth the weight, the worry that wears you down. Half your life spent figuring out how to make the other half count,” they sing. Honest is worth so much more than its weight, and Ordinary Elephant makes every kind word count. “That is why we do this,” they agree. “Songs speak, and they can heal.”
WATCH: “SCARS WE KEEP”
WATCH: “THE WAR”
WATCH: “JENNY & JAMES”
Ordinary Elephant is currently on tour, see below for more information. Honest is available at iTunes, Bandcamp, and at their website.
Honest Track List:
I Come From
Scars We Keep
The War
Shadow
Jenny & James
Harriet
I’m Alright
Worth The Weight
Rust Right Through
If I Am Being Honest
Hope To Be That Happy
TOUR DATES:
5/3 – Huntington Public Library – Huntington, VT
5/4 – Ripton Community Coffee House – Ripton, VT
5/10 – Great Swamp Conservancy – Canastota, NY
5/11 – Circle of Friends Coffeehouse – Franklin, MA
5/12 – House Concert – Hamilton, NY
5/16 – Ashland Coffee & Tea – Ashland, VA
5/17 – The Listening Loft – Reidsville, NC (house concert)
5/18 – SueBru Concerts – Durham, NC (house concert)
5/19 – Isis Music Hall – Asheville, NC
5/21 – Hamilton House Concert – Pass Christian, MS
5/30 – HPPR Living Room Concert @ Starlight Canyon B&B- Amarillo, TX
5/31 – Sacred Grounds Coffee & Tea – Ruidoso, NM
6/2 – Two Rocks and a Hubcap – Santa Fe, NM
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