“The songs on the record are, I guess, the first batch of tunes that I started writing three years ago, when I started doing this group…” Hunter Pinkston tells American Songwriter in conversation about The Pink Stones’ debut album, Introducing… The Pink Stones.
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Pinkston formed the band about four years ago, after taking a while to find the artists that would be the right fit. Before landing on the current group—Will Anderson, Logan Brammer, Adam Wayton, and Jack Colclough and Drive-By Truckers founderJohn Neff— Pinkston played with various artists during the search. Now, these six members, based in Athens, Georgia, have been playing together for a little over a year.
The tracks on their debut album range from early written tunes to the more recent with Pinkston pulling together a few songs he had written while the band was still in the process of forming.
“It’s funny that we called it Introducing…The Pink Stones, because we were trying to come up with some themed album title that would go with the songs. Then we kind of realized that some of the songs aren’t exactly like the way we play and sound now because they’re older tunes,” explains Pinkston.
“It’s cool that we called it that though, it’s a nice introduction into what we have been doing for a while and also what we’re kind of changing into doing, now that we’ve been playing as a band for a bit longer.”
From breaking up to drinking and smoking, the songs on Introducing…The Pink Stones take the listener on a unique adventure. The latest single, “Love Me Hardly,” a favorite of Pinkston, is among those that guarantee a good time to anyone who sits back and listens to it.
“It’s a rocker song so it’s fun to play for people. Everybody in the band gets to shine on that one; there’s no lack of performance from anyone. It kind of shows everybody’s talent a little, I feel like,” Pinkston says.
The accompanying music video, premiering on American Songwriter, features the guys performing on a stage set up, playing their instruments as they are perched in front of a classic red backdrop. Each band member has their talent showcased throughout the song and the video.
“Love Me Hardly,” along with the 9 other tracks on the album, match the band’s image with its country, pop and psychedelic sounds that leave you feeling entranced. They have embraced the chance to refine their sound, but that doesn’t mean being married to any one genre.
“I think there is a lot of importance in having a refined sound and not shooting off too far into the distance, but you know, being open and willing to bend and mold in different ways to make different things is really important. It’s cool to sound a certain way, but obviously you don’t want to make the same song 50 times, so being open to that kind of stuff is important for sure,” says Pinkston.
In preparation for this album release, pre-save Introducing…The Pink Stones here and check out the music video for “Love Me Hardly” below on American Songwriter:
