Twelve tracks to tunefully lead you into 2021, guitar in hand
The Breedlove 2020 Sampler is a month-by-month compendium of tracks by Breedlove Featured Artists, each of whom weathered the pandemic, at least in part, by playing songs of strength on their individual sustainably sourced, clear-cut free Breedlove Organic Collection instruments. Even if they couldn’t tour, they could still make sweet music, writing on acoustic guitars in home studios, tracking at socially distanced recording complexes and dreaming up creative livestreams.
Listen in! And remember, you, too, can play better, sound better and play more with Breedlove.
View this playlist on Spotify.
Upstate NY pop stars Jocelyn & Chris Arndt have landed three singles in the Billboard Top 40 and appeared on NBC’s today show. Chris was Breedlove’s inaugural Organic Collection artist in January 2020. In November, 2019, he and Jocelyn recorded a live acoustic session showcasing his Signature Concert Copper CE, only weeks after receiving it. Check out the stunning “Mercy Me” here. “Outta My Head,” the explosive lead track on the Breedlove 2020 Sampler is from the sibling duo’s epic The Fun in the Fight.
Santa Barbara Indie-folker Conner Cherland followed Arndt in February, and the sunny California thrum of “If You Want It,” featuring The Rare Occasions, belies the lyric’s poignant indecision.
Sydney Irving is still in high school, but the Syracuse, New York native, who plays three Breedloves, including a Lu’au concert ukulele, is gaining fans nationwide with her award-nominated songwriting. “Don’t You Dare” highlights the fingerpicking skills of our March feature artist.
Chicago-bred Leah Capelle’s stunning debut album triptych has been in heavy rotation at Breedlove since its April launch, and the soaring “alder lake” is just one of a dozen reasons why.
May brought L.A. session ace Rod Castro to Breedlove’s Featured Artist roster, and the studio whiz shared plenty of tips and tricks for making music at home during a pandemic. “Stolen Dreams” finds Castro in the composer’s chair alongside longtime collaborator and true funk legend Booty Collins. Classic Funkadelic string wizards Eddie Hazel and Mike Hampton have nothing on Castro!
“The guitar is such a huge part of my life,” Nashville triple threat Alyssa Trahan told Breedlove in June. Trahan writes, sings and records amazing tracks like the bittersweet “Memories Not Dreams” in Music City, and the world is taking notice.
Chris Couch’s Portland, Oregon jam band World’s Finest has been off the road, like everyone else, for most of 2020, but the combo’s delightful take of the Randy Newman classic “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” reminds us how fun live music can—and will—be. Couch, July’s featured Artist, used his downtime wisely in 2020, writing new tunes for adults and children alike.
“Just got a new guitar,” sings Ari Tibi in the opening lines of “Orange Hill.” Tibi, who’s been hunkered down in Calabasas, California expresses herself in journalism, art and fashion as well as music. She painted the case for her new Breedlove Organic for our blog in August.
Jack Johnson drummer, and September Featured Artist, Adam Topol is a man of many talents, and he writes selections like “Give Me a Reason”—with its wry observation “love songs, they’re just spirits that live on the radio”—on his “working guitar,” an Organic Collection Signature Concert Copper E.
What a joy working with Academy Award®-winning actor, musician and environmentalist Jeff Bridges on his trio of signature Breedlove guitars! As our October artist, Bridges. Who’s been playing since his youth, rolled out his inclusive low-key anthem “My Welcome Mat.”
Travis Shallow survived the pandemic by broadcasting loose, friendly Live at the Shallow Chateau sessions every Wednesday and Saturday from his guitar-filled North Carolina home. The November unboxing of his Breedlove Organic Collection Signature Concertina Copper E was a hoot and a half— view the video here. “Let It Pass” is his latest single.
Snowboarding legend Russell Winfield, December’s Featured Artist, plays every spare moment he can, but he hasn’t yet put any of his own music on Spotify. He’s been digging Dylan LeBlanc of late, just as we have. LeBlanc is not a Breedlove artist, but on the Sampler he covers INXS’s timeless “Never Tear Us Apart”—the original featured bassist Garry Gary Beers, now a member of 2020 Breedlove artists AshenMoon.
What music will you make on your Breedlove in 2021!?
