A lot has changed since we last saw Gresham Cash gracing Athens stages with his experimental post-rock band Oak House. Following his band’s dissolution in 2019, he moved to Barcelona, Spain, with the hopes of switching gears and refocusing his energy towards fiction writing, film compositions, photography, poetry and painting. Soon after relocating, the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe and intensified his isolation, ultimately serving as a sort of incubator for his creativity. Gradually, he began meeting other musicians, writing new songs and familiarizing himself with the local scene.
Back in St. Pete Beach, FL, later that year to sort out visa issues, life became even more bumpy following the death of his father-in-law. Gresham released an album, Any Day But Today, on the same day as the funeral in December 2020. Music quickly became a coping mechanism to heal from both grief and pandemic-induced malaise.
Today, Gresham shares his sophomore solo release, Save the Bees, a 12-track album reflecting his experiences over the past few years.
While an exercise in making art independently, the album also represents Gresham’s participation in two geographically separated musical communities. Mastered locally by Joel Hatstat, the album features Athens artists such as Andrew McFarland (Semicircle, Neighbor Lady) and Clay Houle (The Artisanals, Tedo Stone), as well as those he collaborates with in Barcelona such as Denise Cianfaga, Dr Recordá and Daniel Castro.
Considerably more upbeat than his previous work, the process of crafting Save the Bees began by revisiting happy memories from the “before times” and sifting through old demos for songs that could be reworked. While the grunge undertones he’s known for continue to ripple throughout the album, there are also elements of garage, art rock and experimental pop swirling beneath the surface. This hard-to-pinpoint style perfectly represents the wide-ranging, messy, often contradictory nature of complex emotions.
In conjunction with his new album, Gresham has also dropped a music video for the punky opening track, “First Time,” today. Filmed in Barcelona by collaborator Justine Dulong, the free-spirited video offers a window into one of Gresham’s many other creative outlets. Dulong and Gresham have previously collaborated on a video series of improvisational dancers responding live to original music performed by Gresham on a portable synth. The “First Time” video serves as a spin off of the series, instead placing Gresham in the hot seat to physically interpret his own song.
“I enjoyed trying to explain in Spanish to a French person that it’s called ‘First Time’ as a kind of joke, since the first line says ‘This is the last time, I make excuses,’” says Gresham. “First time or last time, it’s all a matter of perspective. And my new perspective is no more excuses. Release the mountain of music. The first time I don’t make excuses.”
Save the Bees closes out with the final track “El Desierto,” a sweltering, grooving Western-influenced instrumental that sets the scene for Cash’s next big project. The song is featured prominently in The Green Flash, an upcoming documentary that he’s producing and scoring alongside co-directors Ethan Payne and Jodi Cash.
Inspiration for the film began taking root after Jodi wrote a feature story, “High Times and Low Tides at Reefer Beach,” for The Bitter Southerner in 2016 about the “Steinhatchee Seven,” a group of six young Florida men and a shrimper named Bubba who were caught smuggling nine tons of marijuana from Jamaica in 1973—the largest stateside drug bust at the time.
“After interviews with some really colorful old drug smugglers, we knew that we were on to something,” says Gresham.
The Green Flash – Teaser from Ethan Payne on Vimeo.
The story included photographs by Payne, who Gresham had previously collaborated with on a handful of short documentaries. By the time they wrapped on shooting, Gresham had written nearly 50 musical pieces for the film.
“This year was the first time that we’ve had a cut for me to start scoring,” says Gresham. “And suddenly, all of these scenes and characters started coming to life with the music that I’d written, recorded and mixed with these places and people in mind.”
The team plans to premiere The Green Flash through festivals in 2024. In tandem with the film’s release, Gresham will release two additional albums consisting of the soundtrack’s 36 songs or so.
Save the Bees is available on Soundcloud and Bandcamp, and all things Gresham can be found at greshamcash.com. For future announcements on The Green Flash, keep your eyes peeled at thegreenflashdocumentary.com.
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