EXCLUSIVE! ‘Saltwater Breeze’ by Miles East

Miles East. Pic: Taylor Ballantyne

Some yearning Americana for you in this week’s Monday exclusive, coming courtesy of US songwriter and session drummer Miles East

For this week’s Monday track exclusive, Songwriting is delighted to bring you a world-first listen to Miles East’s Saltwater Breeze. The track is taken from his forthcoming debut album Ghosts Of Hope, which will be released by ECR Music Group on 24 June.

Miles – whose real name is Jonathan Ellinghaus – is, unlike a lot of songwriters, not a guitarist or pianist first and foremost but a drummer, in which capacity he’s much in-demand as a session musician.  “It’s interesting because I believe it’s the songwriting that’s afforded me the success I’ve achieved as a drummer,” he says, “especially in the studio. I always arrived at drum parts as a songwriter first and as a drummer second. My parts need to serve the song every bit as much as the guitars, or vocal, or even lyrics for that matter.”

As for Saltwater Breeze itself, he tells us: “If I had to pick a song from the record, it’d be this one, whether it was to be my theme song or my epitaph. The eastern seaboard is, and always has been, a huge force in my life. As a destination, it’s the one that helps me navigate all the others, and its influence works its way into my music in subtle (and not so subtle) ways. This song speaks in no uncertain terms to the healing power of my favourite place, and favourite place to be.”

Hype sheet comparisons for this one include Dawes, Jason Isbell and Ray LaMontagne, but as ever, you can make your own mind up…

Like that? Then find Miles East on Facebook and Twitter.

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