Cross Anchor Union

Between the four members of local band Cross Anchor Union, there is nearly a century of musical experience. Their music has been described as indie folk or indie-Americana, but drummer Ted Bradford II said they “aren’t sure what to call it, and aren’t too concerned with labels either.”

The group is made up of Bradford, Lance McCloud on bass, Nathan Emmert on guitar and Gary Schwenke on guitar, keys and vocals.

Bradford said they're working on their first album, ”Chapter I,” set to be released soon. On Wednesday, he reached out to the Press to tell us more about their music and what they’ve been up to.

From Dave Brubeck to Ray Charles, Johnny Cash to John Prine, Dylan to the Dead, we all have rather eclectic tastes in music. It makes for an interesting and creative mix when we begin work on a song.

What changes has the band made in recent months?

We keep simplifying. Gary’s songs are powerful and paint such vivid stories, and we’ve diligently worked to create intentional space around the lyrics and within the music. It’s really helped to create the unique sound that CAU delivers, and the feedback we’ve received from friends and listeners has been overly positive.

Our intent is to serve the music and the song – not to highlight ourselves as individuals. We are four guys with a lot of experience and zero ego. That makes the collaborative process not only more fulfilling but far easier to freely work within.

What can we expect from the band?

We’ll be playing at Founders After Five on July 19. We’ve also nearly completed recording our inaugural album and will be releasing that into the public space in a matter of months through streaming, CDs and a potential short run of vinyl.

Folks will see CAU out and about from July through November, then likely ease up for the holidays and begin work on the second record. Our hope is to see many more faces in live settings as we move past the album launch and into 2020.

What’s the recording process like for your group?

Same room, all for one and one for all. We hit the studio mostly ready to record so that time isn’t wasted and we can be far more productive. It also allows time to do any tweaking or implement any ideas or changes. We are recording with John Saylor of Franklin Studios in Jonesborough, and he did some unique mic placements throughout the studio as to capture our raw sound. None of us are fans of overly produced and heavily edited records.

What you hear from us – the good and the ugly – is us. Not some machine or background track. What floors us all is the ease of our entire collaborative process. Nothing has been difficult or work; things have just flowed like water from a mountain spring.

Where do you hope the band will be in five years?

Our hope is that the music resonates with the listener, to the point that CAU becomes part of their life stories and soundtracks. We are all friends and genuinely enjoy spending time and working with one another, playing more music and seeing new places together wouldn’t be a bad thing. - Johnson City Press

Posted: Jun 2, 2021 / 08:48 AM EDT / Updated: Jun 2, 2021 / 08:48 AM EDT

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Following the announcement that the Blue Plum Festival would not take place in 2021, the organization gave four $5,000 grants to local organizations to host other community events.

One of those recipients was Cross Anchor Union, who has partnered with Atlantic Ale House and Campbell’s Morrell Music to plan a “Community Hang” on June 5.

Ted Bradford from the Cross Anchor Union joined News Channel 11 on Friday, May 28 to talk about the upcoming event.

(video interview at link) - Johnson City Press

CROSS ANCHOR UNION
‘CHAPTER II’
For immediate release, Jan 11, 2022

“With heartfelt lyrics and strong melodies derived from faith and experience, the band seems to be moving towards an electric, pop sound and they’re doing it quite well.”-J. Bentley, Johnson City Press

Media Inquiries: cau@crossanchorunion.com
crossanchorunion.com
Streaming and Social, see: Cross Anchor Union

JOHNSON CITY, TN- Friday, January 14th brings the long awaited second album from Cross Anchor Union, “CHAPTER II”.

This album carries the flavors at the core of the music on their inaugural album while exploring new paths of delivery and sound as they traverse their musical landscape. While the music will be welcomingly familiar, Chapter II delivers a different experience in sound and scope. As artists progress, age, grow and experience new seasons throughout their lives, the art they produce should reflect that. Chapter II is a snapshot, both lyrically and musically, into the seemingly four-lifetimes-worth of experiences lived between the four members of CAU since the release of Chapter 1 in December of 2019. Along with everyone else across the globe, CAU has experienced their fair share of love, loss, hurt, joy, madness, frustration, stress and celebration that the past two years have brought. Their hope with Chapter II is not to provide an escape from the world, but rather a soundtrack to accompany you in your moments of joy, mourning and anything else in between that this world may throw at you.

Kicking off this launch has the musicians live in studio with JP Parsons on Appalachian Travels (WBCM RADIO, 100.1 FM locally & streaming) live at 2pm Friday the 14th.. Aside from streaming services, the band is also looking for a few of these songs to start making their way into airplay.

The band describes the music as, “Atmospheric Appalachian” as its difficult for them to define a musical genre they belong to. All the musicians (Gary Schwenke- Song writer, Guitars. Nathan Emmert- Guitars, effects and other stringed things. Lance McCloud- Bass Guitars. Ted Bradford II- Drum Set) are from the East TN region and have very diverse tastes in music and art. This culminates in a well-blended mix of thought and expression as the songs written by Gary Schwenke come to life through final arrangements.

Gary shares, “Chapter II is an eclectic mix of songs and I’m really excited about how the final arrangements came together. Some of these songs are new and some have been in my songwriting journal for years. That’s one of my favorite things about songs and songwriting is that they transcend time. A song written 100 years ago can still be applicable and take on a new meaning today. Songs, like people, should evolve, grow and change as time passes. What a song meant to me or to someone else 10 years can take on a whole new meaning and impact someone differently today depending on the season of life they’re experiencing. It’s similar to reading a quote or passage 50 different times and then on the 51st time something about it speaks to you in a completely different, eye-opening way than it ever has before. Songs, music, and art in general, all have that fascinating power. That’s what keeps me reading, writing, listening to and creating music. Getting to share those experiences with the band and with our listeners is a pretty amazing feeling.”

Cross Anchor Union
ted bradford II
PO BOX 5927
Johnson City, TN 37602
423.202.7152

Media Inquiries: cau@crossanchorunion.com

Appalachian Band from the hills of East Tennessee producing music they bill as, "Atmospheric Appalachian". Give it a listen and see what you think!

This release was published on openPR. - openpr.com