Hear Andrew Leahey’s Blast of Heartland Rock ‘Start the Dance’ With Sadler Vaden
After 2016’s Ken Coomer-produced Skyline in Central Time, Andrew Leahey returns with a more guitar-forward new song, the anthemic “Start the Dance,” a fist-pumping slice of heartland rock.
Leahey (a contributor to Rolling Stone Country) is a Nashville regular, who, when he isn’t fronting his band the Homestead, has been playing guitar for Elizabeth Cook and often jamming with Music City colleagues like Jon Latham, Szlachetka and Jamie Kent. For “Start the Dance,” Leahey enlists Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit guitarist Sadler Vaden. Together, they couple a spiraling hook with handclaps to create a joyful ode to logging in the hours in the name of living the dream.
“We’ve been kicking off our shows with this one,” Leahey says in a statement accompanying the new song. Like any great rock & roll anthem, there’s double entendre in the message. “It’s about the moment that pops up during any new relationship, where you have to decide if you’re going to move forward or call it quits,” he says, a scenario that mirrors the creative process. “In that way, it’s something of a call-to-arms for this band, as well.”
“Start the Dance” is the first taste of Leahey’s upcoming LP Airwaves, produced by Paul Ebersold.