SINGLE: MY DEAR WENDY 63 Steps
My Dear Wendy 63 Steps [The Apple Falls Far, Pt 2] is available on Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer.
by Walter Price
I’ve made it abundantly clear that the two EPs, The Apple Falls Far, Pt 1 & 2, from multi instrumented songwriter Amanda Gunnels’ My Dear Wendy are some of my favorite releases of the past couple of years. Two albums of therapeutic coping mechanisms for an artist who’s negotiating her future by dealing with her past, the best way she knows how. Writing and singing through it all.
One of my go-to tracks these past few weeks has been the instant jukebox classic, “63 Steps”. A song Gunnels has posted about on YouTube, “How do you write a song about someone you never knew, but has had an incredible presence in your life? This song is written for my father, and the only way I could describe how I dealt with his loss.”
It seems pretty clearcut, as a loss can be both a difficult time and an inspiring moment to get the emotional turmoil out in the open. But this song has a misdirect and a surprising amount of pain interwoven throughout its honky-tonk rhythm. Making “63 Steps” the near-perfect tear-in-my-beer-playlist must-have.
And you can stream the full 3-track ‘The Apple Falls Far, Pr 2’ EP as well as see the in-studio performance music video, now at the GTC.
MY DEAR WENDY The Apple Falls Far, Pt 2 + 63 Steps
Artist photo by @jenniferleeknuth
63 Steps, Matt Gendal – drums
Darren Mcguire – bass; bgvs
Melissa Barrison – fiddle
Julia Dettwiler – bgvs
Amanda Gunnels – guitar; lead vocals
Roy Silverstein – audio engineer
Video, And to Pair-a-Dice Productions – Julia Dettwiler and Andrew Davis.
facebook // website // instagram
“A concept album I never thought would be released. Family can be an interesting thing, and growing up I always felt torn with how to feel. There was this pressure to be a specific type of person and to follow a certain timeline of how life was “supposed” to go, but there was something inside of me that wanted more. I wanted to be able to be who I really was, without judgment and without feeling ashamed for being a little bit different than the “norm.” This album is incredibly personal, but I also believe that there are many people out there who might feel the same way– who might recognize these troubles, understand, and find a hope that they are not alone with these feelings. “The Apple Falls Far” will be released in two parts, and each song represents the emotions and feelings I have towards my family as a whole, or individually.” – My Dear Wendy