Nashville Byline by Mattiel, Troy Stains

A few months ago, I flew to Nashville…to see my friend Troy Stains who had just moved there from San Francisco. I hadn’t seen him since he’d visited my mom’s farm in Georgia for Christmas in 2022.

Troy is an old friend, but we hadn’t made anything together for a long time, so I was excited to see what we could get done during my week stay in Nashville at his new recording space. Turns out Nashville is a good place to make music because the songs came easily. We recorded two country tracks: covers of Terri Gibbs’ 1981 hit “ Somebody’s Knockin” and Bob Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll be Staying Here with You.” Troy produced, recorded, and mixed the tracks and played every instrument (other than pedal steel, which was kindly and thoughtfully added by Alex Kidd.) We ate a lot of tacos and drank a lot of coffee that week.

Somebody's Knockin' is a bit of a deep cut…but this is a song that still plays in old bars, and maybe at a Friday night open-mic when your Aunt Debbie gets the mic.

But about 40 years ago, Terri’s song was a big deal on the country charts. I felt connected to her because like her, I also grew up in Georgia. But also because we’re both a little weird, and we make music that’s not easily defined by any one genre.

Troy and I recorded these covers out of pure fun and passion as a big tribute to Terri. Bob was in the back seat (or the b-side) along for the ride. We don’t expect to make it on the charts (although, that would be cool) but we’d love for you to give it a listen. Enjoy!

Love,

Mattiel

Tracklist

1.	Somebody's Knockin'	3:06

2.	Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You	3:38

Credits

released October 11, 2024

Lead vocals: Mattiel
Producer: Troy Stains
Mixer: Troy Stains
Pedal steel: Alex Kidd
All other instruments: Troy Stains

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