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Flagpole Premieres: Georgia Dish Boys, “Before I Travel On”

Georgia Dish Boys. Photo by Sloan Simpson.

In anticipation of the soon-to-be-released album, Suitcase of Life, the Georgia Dish Boys have shared the final track, “Before I Travel On.” The song is an ode to touring—it’s first verse was even written by guitarist Seth Martin while driving through a 10-foot blizzard—and it features guest vocals by Hunter Pinkston of The Pink Stones. The band, which has played over 100 shows each of the last three years, currently includes Martin alongside Robert Hibbs (guitar), Garrett Hibbs (bass), Eric Zock (drums), Tyler Key (pedal steel, electric guitar) and Mark  Plemmons (piano, organ). 

The band shares that “Suitcase of Life has ‘scenes’ that were recorded by Martin while on tour out West last year. The opening scene is the band leaving to go to the next gig on the road with the sound of the engine starting, and the last one is of Martin thanking everyone and signing off at a live show before playing the last song. There are scenes of scanning the radio on a long drive, waiting in line at a gas station, having a call go to voicemail, trying to find parking before loading in, and the chatter of a bar between sets. These are things a band experiences every day on tour.”

Closing an album out with the words “We’ll see ya next year!” feels all too appropriate in 2020 with widespread event cancellations and venue closures. Had the pandemic not occurred, Georgia Dish Boys would have embarked on an impressive 28-show tour across the country to Seattle and back this month. The band hopes to reschedule the tour for next summer, and has taken advantage of the unexpected down time to finish recording its next album at Gypsy Farm, which will be titled Living In This Country, and should be released later this year. 

Recorded on a snow day at Chase Park Transduction by Henry Barbe, Suitcase of Life was mastered by Joel Hatstat and pressed locally at Kindercore Vinyl. The band plans to donate all physical and digital sales of its sixth album—which will be officially released this Friday, June 26—to the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement.

Hear the new single, “Before I Travel On,” below. 

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