With the Hummingbird Rotation, we hope to give folks a closer look at the songs that get the most play at Hummingbird HQ. This installment, hear about Avriel & the Seqouias, Phony Ppl, and Tyler Lyle!

Sweet Adeline // Avriel & the Sequoias

For those who have read one or two of my articles before, you might know that I’ve recently been turned off from a lot of mainstream country music. The start of the Bro-Country movement in the industry began around the same time as folk-pop became popular. So if you missed the guitars and banjos in popular country music, folk bands like Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers began making their ways on the pop charts. And one of my picks this week comes from that folky, white guys in man-buns chanting “Hey!” while playing acoustic guitar time period. (That was only three or four years ago, feels like much longer right?)

Even though I like to poke fun at the genre, I do love folk music, and Sweet Adeline has many of the things that makes me love the genre. I’ve always loved the raw sound that comes with lots of folk music, and hearing the banjo roll alongside mandolin never fails to put a smile on my face. None of the instrumental parts are too complex, but the song is still a nice easy listen for anyone who needs a pick-me-up. 

The lyrics aren’t too revolutionary, a sweet folky love song to a girl named Adeline. But that’s not why I really dig this song. What makes me love this song is laid-back use of traditional folk instruments into that more modern sound, while still keeping a great, clean sound.

California // Tyler Lyle

Yea if you can’t tell I’ve been on a folk binge this week. This particular song has been making its way on my playlist for a few years now for two reasons. The first would be because it has relatively simple instrumental parts, with a touch of tasteful mandolin and banjo. The second, is the actual lyrics of the song.

Tyler Lyle uses the idea of headed out west and starting a new life in order to leave a bad relationship.

“I’m going to California- by myself , The next time you see me I’ll be someone else 

There ain’t no gates around heaven, Ain’t no gates round hell 

Just the sunset in the distance, and the dark on it’s tail”

It might just be the fact that I’m from the southwest, but I’ve always loved the idea of riding off into the sunset in the west, leaving everything behind and starting new. This song plays into that love of mine. I’ve had my fair share of breakdowns over the years, and I can’t tell you the number of times that the thought of getting in my vehicle and driving out west has crossed my mind. For those of us who have that little bit of western love in us, here is our song.

A great song to sing loud in your car after a long day, relaxing while walking the dog, or even sitting around with friends, thinking back on old times. Also, an added bonus to this song is that it’s simple enough to learn on guitar, so if you’re the type of person who brings an acoustic guitar to a party, this might be your new song to learn!

“So this is it- this is the last song that you get,

A little sad, but we move on 

Soon I’ll sing someone else’s song”

Why iii Love The Moon // Phony Ppl

I’m gonna be honest, I love listening to music which is hard to classify, and even though songs like these are hard to talk about I decided to throw this song onto this list purely because it’s a song that I think everyone should listen to at least once. “Why iii Love The Moon” is a really difficult song to describe, mostly because there are so many different things happening at the same time.

The whole song has a dream-like aura to it throughout, often playing with reverb and delays as well as other effects that keep that type of sound going throughout. The song starts with heavy reverb on a piano riff, and really picks up once the beat drops. However, this song is not about the beat, staying relatively simple throughout the whole piece allows for you to be able to focus on the other parts of the music.

The song works as both something dissect musically to really listen to each individual part, but also works as a casual listening chill song for your kickbacks with your friends. Containing everything from multiple beautiful piano riffs, a kickass rap throughout, an extremely catchy hook, and a production quality that I just think is super cool. Whether you’re driving down the freeway into the sunset, or chilling with your friends, take a look at this song that I can’t ever seem to get out of my head.