The road that lead to the release of the debut album from The One Eighties was one full of overcoming adversities. Let me give you a little bit of the backstory of the band. The band is comprised of Autumn Brand (vocals, strings, production) and Daniel Cook (background vocals, keys, guitars, synths, percussion, drum sequencing, production, mixing). They were in a band, pre-Covid called New Reveille whose debut album was creating quite a buzz with praise from all corners of the music industry including MTV, CMT and Rolling Stone. Then, their label folded, Covid hit and members went their separate ways. Brand and Cook were left scratching their heads wondering what to do next. It would involve music, but they weren’t quite sure what to do. So, they disappeared and took off on an adventure. They did, as their name says, a “one eighty” and started creating.
They wrote lots of songs, but who was going to sing them? Brand had done some back-up singing in New Reveille, but she wasn’t sure if she was to stay in the backseat singing or move up front behind the wheel. She gained a bit of confidence and both artists quickly discovered that she was born to sing these songs. The duo kept creating and began to put together the debut album known as Minefields. The genre blending duo worked with a team of well-seasoned people including award winning drummer Fred Eltringham (Sheryl Crow, Amanda Shires, Carrie Underwood)and bassist Mark Hill (Morgan Wallen, Luke Bryan, Kelly Clarkson) among others. The album was mastered by Grammy Award winners Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone (Kacey Musgraves, The National, Father John Misty). The album was finally released on August 18, 2023.
That brings us to the band’s album release show at Kings in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday, August 25, 2023. Also playing on the bill were Courtney Lynn & Quinn and Jack The Radio. The venue was small and intimate, so no matter where you were, you felt as if you were right up front. After great opening sets from Courtney Lynn & Quinn and from Jack The Radio, the crowd was ready for the headliners The One Eighties. At this point, the venue was pretty packed with fans there to show their support for this amazing band and the release of their debut album. Although The One Eighties are only two people, they put together a full band to help out with this live event.
The band opened with “Two Jet Planes” and at the conclusion was met with a thunderous round of applause, yells and whistling. I’m not sure what the band was expecting and maybe they didn’t know what to expect either, but the crowd’s reaction seemed to catch them off-guard. To be honest, they appeared to be overwhelmed with joy the entire evening because of the reaction from the crowd time and time again. I don’t get to see that genuine sense of joy from an artist too many times and it’s a shame that I don’t.
More selections from their superb debut album Minefields followed including “Dead Star Light,” “No King,” “Nightmare, Baby” and more. They even threw in a “surprise” cover of Kasey Musgraves’ “Slow Burn.” The song selection was a surprise, but I had a feeling that they were going to throw a cover in. The real surprise, at least for me and quite a few others that we talked to, was the encore. The band brought up George Hage, who is the lead singer/guitarist of opener Jack The Radio and former bandmate in New Reveille. They dusted off “Heavy Hands” by New Reveille and Daniel even broke out the banjo for that one. That was pretty awesome to hear that song again!
First off, props to the band that they put together because they were absolutely magnificent. How long had they been playing together? They sounded like a well-seasoned, road traveled band to me and many in attendance that I spoke to. As for The One Eighties, if they were nervous about the show, they channeled that energy into their music. They sounded amazing! It was a great show and a lot of fun. This band has an incredible amount of talent and potential. It would be pretty awesome to see them get the opportunity to go out on the road opening up for a major band for some major exposure. Minefields is one of the most solid albums that we’ve heard this year. The duo just proved to all of us in attendance that they’re pure talent and don’t rely on smoke and mirrors. This is definitely a band to keep your eyes and ears on.
Review & pix: I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price
Connect with The One Eighties:
