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Expect More Electric, Less Melancholy Second Album From Stone & Snow

Just because you don’t see the acoustic duo Stone & Snow on stage every week, doesn’t mean the band isn’t working. They just got the results of their entry for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. (See their video entry below) Clint Thomson and Karen Bridges, who are the core of Stone & Snow, said they’re not too upset or surprised they weren't selected. There were 6,000 entries.

They also just wrapped their successful Indiegogo campaign to fund a new album. And they’re in the studio recording that album. Clint and Karen both said "Mama Said," which will be on the new album, was the right choice to submit to NPR.

"I think it's just fun to play. And I think it's fun to listen to," Bridges said during GLT's Sound Ideas. "And it has a message that a lot of people can relate to, 'mama said nothin' ever good happens after midnight.' My mama never actually said that to me, but I have enjoyed listening to the stories of others."

When asked for another favorite on the album, Bridges and Thomson settled on "Ghost in my Bed."

"There's a 'Ghost in my Bed' is my favorite song title of any song I've ever written. And the song is about living with what's left behind when someone leaves you and being haunted by that," said Bridges.

During a 2014 Sound Ideas interview, Bridges described their release "These Are the Hills" as melancholy. Their new album, with what is at this point a secret title, will be a little more upbeat. Both Thomson and and Bridges point to the soulful song "Bluebird."

"We've been thinking about that one (Bluebird) extra in the studio about what we want to do, what we want it to sound like," said Thomson. "To be honest with you, I'm still working on that song. It's a simple song, but it's as complex as you want it to be." (Hear the song, and others in the audio file below) 

"I studied jazz a little bit when I was younger, and so that soulful sound comes out in my writing. It just feels natural," said Bridges. "I don't go into it thinking I'm going to have to write something that sounds like this. I think it just comes out naturally."

During the same 2014 GLT interview, Bridges and Thomson talked about their collaborative style, which they say they've not changed. Both come up with parts of songs and then they'll leave with each other's parts of songs and work on the parts separately. Later, together, they test what they've written.

"I think our strongest material comes when we collaborate like that," said Thomson.

When asked about the song "The Devil I Know" on which Thomson takes lead vocals he said "this is a perfect example of that collaborative song writing we do. She came up with a chorus, the title of the song, the idea of the song and then I took it from there."

The duo just concluded an Indiegogo fundraising campaign raising 105% of their goal to pay for the production of the new album.

"We have to find someway to pay for that (a new album) whether that's by taking a percentage of our live performance fees, or somehow finding a guardian angel backer," said Bridges. "I mean, we're growing, but what we're making so far in live performance fees would not cover the cost of the album, much less our other expenses."

Bridges said recording of the new album will conclude soon. It should be mixed and mastered early next month. A release party is planned for The Castle Theater on May 7.