The Luckiest Hippie Alive (2022 Reissue), by Tobias Berblinger

The Luckiest Hippie Alive (2022 Reissue)

by Tobias Berblinger

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2022 Vinyl Reissue of the Album on 180-Gram Black Vinyl

Includes unlimited streaming of The Luckiest Hippie Alive (2022 Reissue) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	My Boots Have Been Drinking 04:00	buy track
2.	Blade of Grass 02:54	buy track
3.	Seeds and Stems (Again) 03:29	buy track
4.	Luckiest Hippie Alive 04:39	buy track
5.	Medicine Water 03:16	buy track
6.	It Ain't Right 03:19	buy track
7.	Heartaches, Hard Times, Hard Drinking 04:54	buy track
8.	Divisions 04:16	buy track
9.	Crawl Back To You 02:08	buy track
10.	Polly Come Home 04:10	buy track

about

Portland-based troubadour Tobias Berblinger presents the vinyl reissue of his 2018 album The Luckiest Hippie Alive, released on October 6th, 2022.

The Luckiest Hippie Alive delivers a comforting range of country and folk nostalgia, recalling the likes of Gram Parsons, Townes Van Zandt, and Blaze Foley. Opener “My Boots Have Been Drinking” entrances with hazy pedal steel and a swooning vocal duet, setting the album in motion with a sunset-friendly allure.

Twangy, heartfelt introspection and a suave cosmic country drive persist throughout the release. Further energy is conveyed on breezy rock/folk infusions like “Blade of Grass” and the self-titled track, which exudes a playful duet emitting themes of perseverance: “When I’m falling off my horse, there’s another one to carry me.”

In addition to his work as a solo artist, Berblinger plays with other Portland-based artists, performing bass for apocalyptic folk band Roselit Bone and keyboards for singer/songwriter Kassi Valazza. He is also an engineer at Singing Sands Recording Studio, and performs as a live DJ throughout Portland, hosting genre-themed nights such as "Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love," "Death Trip," "Black Acid," and more. Additionally, Berblinger is a professional graphic designer and illustrator.

Read more about the album, below:

Album Information:
Written by Reed Burnam

While it’s a little less popularly known than the rock ‘n’ roll and pop arcs of the same period, country music in the 1960s and 1970s also had its own counter-cultural flowering as influential voices within the genre rejected the Nashville country elites, cross-pollinated with West Coast psychedelia, and re-embraced the weird, old, melancholic strain of Americana that’s been present in all music of the North American continent for centuries.

Tobias Berblinger’s The Luckiest Hippie Alive makes deft use of a host of lesser known yet long appreciated country and folk influences that have remained on the tongue of many a critic and tastemaker for some decades now, as the mainstream country music machine continues to churn out bland, soulless schlock readymade for truck stop shitters all across the nation. Culling together some hook-laden songcraft with a strong nod to many of Berblinger's obvious influences, including outlaw and cosmic country luminaries such as Gram Parsons, Blaze Foley, and Townes Van Zandt, et al, The Luckiest Hippie Alive is a strong record that’s memorable and often hilarious, wearing its influences on its sleeve while still managing to fully hit its own stride.

For the sake of the song of course, Berblinger cranks out solid original tunes such as the smoky pedal steel ballad "My Boots Have Been Drinking", folk weirdness of "Blade of Grass" and "It Ain't Right", and sing-along barroom anthems "Divisions" and "Heartaches, Hard Times, Hard Drinking". To round out the track listing, Berblinger employs a number of cover tunes, including a heartfelt cover of the late, great Blaze Foley's “Crawl Back to You“, paying tribute to the doomed Austin songster's signature fingerpicking style reminiscent of country blues icons such as Mississippi John Hurt.

Sealing the deal, the addition of Commander Cody's “Seeds and Stems (Again)” makes sure to fully honor some of the more tongue-in-cheek trappings of country music storytelling, with the protagonist managing to lose his dog, his house, his girl, and his weed all in the same song. Berblinger doles out much of the same light-hearted yet grounded world-weariness throughout The Luckiest Hippie Alive, and in all the record is an affectionate testament to strong songwriting, a fertile period in American music, and the perennial highway blues.

credits

released October 6, 2022

Produced and Mixed in Portland, Oregon by Mo Douglas

Co-Producer: Tobias Berblinger
Engineers: Mo Douglas, Tobias Berblinger
Stereophonic Mastering (Vinyl): Timothy Stollenwerk
Digital Mastering: Mo Douglas & Tobias Berblinger

Musicians:

Tobias Berblinger: Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar on All Titles

Chris Cook: Lead Guitar on: A2, A3, A4, A5, B2

Lance Dinauer: Bass Guitar on: A2, A3, A4, A5, B2, B5

Jesse Cunningham: Pedal Steel Guitar on: A1, A2, A3, A5, B2, B5

Marisa Laurelle: Backing Vocals on: A2, A4, A5, B2

Chris McKee: Drums on: A4, B2

Mo Douglas: Acoustic Guitar on: A1, A3, B2, B5; Lead Guitar on: A1, B3; Bass Guitar on: A1, B3; Electric (Rhythm) Guitar on A2, B3;
Drums on: A2, B3; Tambourine on: A2, A3, A4, B2, B3

Mariya May: Backing Vocals on: A1, A3, B3, B4; Flute on: A3, B1, B5

Annie Perkins: - Backing Vocals on: B1, B5

Vinyl track listing:

SIDE A
1. My Boots Have Been Drinking 04:02
2. Blade of Grass 02:52
3. Seeds and Stems (Again) 03:30
4. Luckiest Hippie Alive 04:39
5. Medicine Water 03:17

SIDE B
1. It Ain't Right 03:15
2. Heartaches, Hard Times, Hard Drinking 04:55
3. Divisions 04:16
4. Crawl Back To You 02:08
5. Polly Come Home 04:11

Cover Photo: Luke Murray
Live at Sou'Wester photos by Scott Mayoral
Graphic Design and Layout: Tobias Berblinger

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