EG Vines

“Democrat, Republican, it’s written on my face again. This blue and red so black and white, it’s taken over everything!” EG Vines is an artist who leans into the sociopolitical and the release of his latest single, “Them,” is his first chance to release music during a U.S. Presidential election year. The intoxicating division that seems to stay at fever pitch won’t start to tamp down until as a Vines channeling Zack de la Rocha says, we “take the power back!” In a personal sense, Vines took his power back in the fall of 2019 giving his two-week notice to a ten-year career leading energy conservation efforts at a Fortune 500 company in order to tour and focus on songwriting. “Jesus spent 40 days in the desert tempted to give up what he came to earth to do and it took me 10 years in corporate America,” Vines laughs. While the pandemic effectively shut down touring plans for the rest of 2020, Vines used his newly freed time to fine tune and record several singles that point to a full-length record in 2021. A Nashville resident since 2009, Vines says he spent most of the 2010s “drunk, plump and stupid” playing with various rock bands before debuting as a solo artist with 2018 EP Conversation. The full-length follow-up Family Business was released in the fall of 2019 and featured songs in regular rotation on Nashville’s Lightning 100, airplay on XM radio, placements in Billboard, Rolling Stone, Pop Matters and NPR, among others. Drawing comparisons to Neil Young, Jason Isbell and 90s alt-rock acts like Pearl Jam and REM, Vines has developed an eclectic roots rock sound and he aims to approach songwriting from angles less traveled. “Sure, there are plenty of blatant anti-Trump songs – and I might even call him a name in an upcoming song – but I always strive to give people something more than surface level. If I didn’t make you think a bit, I feel like I didn’t do my job.” Look for a steady cadence of singles, videos and potentially cover tunes across the fall before what Vines hopes is plenty of touring in 2021. “The folks that played on this record have been with me for a bit and we’re getting pretty tight. Stay with us and we’ll make sure to give you something special when we’re able to play shows again.”