TROUBADOUR 77
Troubadour 77, an Americana duo often referred to as T77, is the brainchild of award-winning singer-songwriters Anna Wilson and Monty Powell who are forging a sound and spirit that celebrates the tradition of the American troubadour. Their compelling performances are rich with raw and honest emotion, and their songs sing of social change, life, death, love, hope and redemption that play like musical love letters to their influences, the troubadours of the Laurel Canyon era.
Wilson and Powell could have easily drifted away and comfortably maintained their behind-the-scene personas as the hit-makers for artists like Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, Lady Antebellum and others. Collectively, they have written a dozen #1 songs, countless album cuts featured on more than 70 million RIAA certified records, have co-produced unique projects that pay tribute to the Eagles, Billy Joel and the Countrypolitan era of music, and penned the International theme song for Habitat for Humanity. Yet, instead of enjoying the rays of light from what might have been seen as the sunset of their accomplished careers, they took a deep breath, left Nashville to find clarity in the mountains of Utah, and reinvented themselves in 2016 by forming Troubadour 77.
Monty, a Georgia native, was three years old when the Beatles took the stage on that historic night, February 9, 1964, and ten years old when the Allman Brothers made their unforgettable live recordings at Fillmore East in 1971. In 1977, Anna was five years old when Rumours and Hotel California came out. Perhaps it was fate that caused the perfect storm of the current times colliding and fusing with the seasons of their own lives to form a new muse, one that they could not deny. “When you hear the call, you have to answer,” says Wilson, “So, here we are in our second act putting out a message that we believe in, and hope others will believe in too.” Ever since that new muse came calling it has only gotten louder and is resonating with songs of change, love, revolution and redemption, in them and their music.
Their mission is to create thoughtful music reminiscent of the classic singer-songwriters and California country artists that so many of us have on our playlists, like Jackson Browne, the Eagles, James Taylor, and Fleetwood Mac. Powell says, “I have spent my whole adult life in the music business as a songwriter and producer, writing multiple chart-topping songs for other artists and facilitating their musical visions, but now I decided that it was time to come out from behind the glass and be front and center and onstage, playing my guitar and singing from my own artistic voice the type of music that Anna and I love, that I know our friends love. I’m not a big hip hop fan, and teen pop is useless to me and most of my contemporaries. Yet, I remember the feeling the first time I heard Stairway to Heaven and The Pretender and I knew that if someone kept making music that embodied those sensibilities, that the sense of discovery and passion could still be ignited in a forgotten listening audience that has been musically marginalized for too long.”
That flame has been fully ignited as Troubadour 77 heeds the call and drives forward with their new album “Revolution & Redemption” that dives even deeper into the roots of the folk-rock movement that is being resurrected and celebrated in the Americana genre today, and quite recently on screen, with documentaries like “Echo in The Canyon” and the brand new two-part EPIX docuseries “Laurel Canyon”. Wilson and Powell are storytellers carrying the torch forward for modern audiences and they are calling for change the old fashioned way, with a melody and a lyric.
Their duo name was inspired by two things, the troubadours who came before them, and the year 1977. Not only was it an iconic year for music, but it was also when Anna turned five and realized that she wanted to be a singer, as she belted out Linda Ronstadt’s Greatest Hits into a hairbrush in her room in Pennsylvania. Wilson says, “The 2020 zeitgeist is not so different than that of the late 60s and early 70s. Right now we are every bit in a climate and culture similar to where many of our musical heroes and influences found themselves. They taught us that it’s an artist’s job to engage by using art to craft a voice in an effort to affect change. We are just trying to do our part to inspire and let people know they are not alone.” Their name is also a subtle nod to Doug Weston’s Troubadour club in Los Angeles where so many of their heroes got their start. Powell adds, “The Troubadour was Los Angeles’ version of Nashville’s Bluebird Café, a place where songwriters and artists could bare their souls and find a sense of community through art. We are no different. We are troubadours observing the world and not afraid to write and sing about it.”
They released their sophomore effort REVOLUTION & REDEMPTION in April, 2020, amid the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, and have now added to the project by creating a DELUXE version of the album by adding two new songs that are a part of what the duo is calling THE LOVE FORWARD PROJECT, that are aptly titled “Are You Ready For Love” and “More Love”. “These songs speak specifically to the season the world finds itself in,” Wilson states, “They were inspired by the experiences we as a society are having amid the backdrop of this pandemic and the equality conversation that has been reignited. We felt compelled to add them to the album because their message serves as a perfect complement to the spirit of Revolution & Redemption.” Wilson penned, and Powell produced, the two important songs that continue the story being told on their current album, which is already a collection of songs that touch on life, love, hope, death, dreams, change and acceptance, all themes that seem to be very relevant in these times. “We need more love. We want more truth. I would like to think that is something we can all agree on,” Powell states, “At the end of the day I believe that most people want the same thing, peace, hope and love, and that is what these songs are all about.” Conversely, the album’s logo art alludes to the word “LOVE” spelled backwards in the word “rEVOLution”. Now, with this Deluxe release, they are calling for a message of love forward with these two new singles. The album is currently available to listen here: https://smarturl.it/RevolutionRedemption
Troubadour 77 is no stranger when it comes to using their craft of songwriting and performance to mirror the humanity often times forgotten in the midst of the disruptive and divisive conversation that has infected the soul of our common experience. In fact, their first single “American Revival,” released in January, 2020, is a different type of call to action for hope in changing times. Powell, who penned the song on a plane flight from Nashville to Los Angeles states, “I felt a little like it was just delivered to me. Our musical tradition and influences have been singer-songwriters from the 60s and 70s Laurel Canyon movement who responded through their songs to what was going on in the world in a spirit of poetic reflection meets poetic reaction, and that’s what I believe happened with American Revival.” Wilson adds, “We were not seated together on that flight and when we landed, he sang these words it in my ear standing at baggage claim, ‘…In this American, American Revival…Hope and love hangin’ tough just for survival…Peace train in the rain, right on time arrival…The soul of the nation knows the time has come.’ I instantly knew it was special, important and needed.” Listen here: https://smarturl.it/T77AmericanRevival
As they drive forward, Troubadour 77 is fully engaged in finding and broadening their musical tribe. They have already shared billings with established acts like Emmylou Harris, Brandi Carlile, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, Rodney Crowell, Los Lobos and Robert Randolph & The Family Band, and when their spring and summer tour to support the new album was cancelled in 2020 due to the Coronavirus outbreak, they launched a virtual concert series called “T77 SQUARED CONCERTS” that has since been archived on their YouTube Channel. The "T77 Squared Concerts" format was a 2 song mini-concert for each episode (thus the "Squared" in the title), featuring Wilson and Powell each doing a song and telling the stories behind them from their current album(s) and storied careers. Troubadour 77 is on a musical journey that will make you laugh, cry, stop and think, and celebrate the power of a song. They are looking to find their Troubelievers, as their followers call themselves, and are singing out one song at a time to maybe, just maybe, help bring about that change that is gonna come.