Music fans across the Midwest have been anxiously commenting across social media about the potential release of a new Steel Skarecrow project…and now it’s here. Kurt Shobe, band founder and leader, confirmed today that the band’s new album “Sky Dirt Water” will hit the digital music landscape, with hard copies available for order as well, today.
Shobe shares with enthusiasm, “We always try to make sure all the Ts are crossed before we release a full project, so we’ve been trimming away at it until we got to this point. Now we are ready for fans to enjoy it with us.”
Shobe co-produced this project with creative partners Carter Green and Luke Wallace at Red Cat Studios in Peck, Kansas. Then they moved it on for the final step of mastering to Green Jean Studios in Wellington, Kansas to round out the process. “It’s important for us to stay here in our area to make these records”, says Shobe.
He continues, “lots of folks leave town to Nashville or somewhere else for the recording process but I feel like we’ve got some of the best in the business right here. So, we keep it close to home while we are making the music”.
Listening through the new effort, the music of each track keeps the ear close to the themes of the album title while Shobe and his co-writers spin his familiar storytelling style lyrically. Look out for standouts like, “Big Hat, No Cattle” that Shobe penned himself. Or “Whiskey’s Got My Soul” that he co-wrote with Rollin Schmidt. But even with that said, each track has its own signature on the heart of this album’s identity and structure.
There’s an old saying…pleased but not surprised…it’s synonymous with how expectations are met with regular satisfaction in a given situation. I thought about that saying as I listened to this album. How it was pleasing to my musical senses, but I wasn’t surprised by the fact. Because that’s what we’ve come to expect from Shobe and Steel Skarecrow…And they’ve done it again…