Parallel creative paths and a singular chance meeting of Tammy Rogers and Thomm Jutz are the origins of the duo’s forthcoming album, Surely Will Be Singing which released on January 21 via Mountain Fever Records. Bluegrass and Americana fans are treated to the album’s final single, “Long Gone”—available to stream everywhere at this link. Rogers named the song, taking the classic bluegrass train theme and turning it on its head. (Tammy Rogers/Thomm Jutz, 2022)

“In my mind, ‘Long Gone’ is set in the 1920s, a time of great social movement and upheaval. I picture a young man from the country who is either going to catch the train his lover is on, or stay left behind. What’s he going to do? Stick with the old or go somewhere new? This song is a reminder to all of us that no matter what we do, time is short, and we had better get to doing what we’re supposed to do.” – Thomm Jutz.

Surely Will Be Singing is a twelve-song collection selected from the 140+ songs King and Jutz have written over the years. “We’d always talked about making a duo record,” Jutz says. “We’re both very serious about what we do but we’re also very easygoing in the way we approach things. That’s at the heart of how we write. We’re both willing to see where things naturally go. I love that because at the end of the day, we usually wind up with something I wouldn’t have come up with on my own.” Rogers adds.

Previously, Rogers and Jutz released “The Tree of Life,” another single from the album which explores the concept of duality, something the duo were discussing after having read the writing of Joseph Campbell. Fans can hear “The Tree of Life” now at this link.

When Tammy Rogers was around five years old, her family moved from Rogersville, Tennessee, to Texas. Her father bought her a three-quarter size fiddle a few years later and it immediately became an extension of herself. Along with playing and touring with her family’s bluegrass band, she absorbed the music of her grandmother’s records whenever she would travel back to Tennessee in the summertime. Rogers landed her big break when she was hired to play fiddle in Patty Loveless’ band in 1990. Later in that decade, she co-founded one of Nashville’s earliest alt- country indie labels, Dead Reckoning Records. In 2016, Rogers won her first Grammy with the SteelDrivers for their album, The Muscle Shoals Recordings, which was awarded best bluegrass album.

Thomm Jutz’ pivotal moment came when he watched Bobby Bare singing “Detroit City” and “Tequila Sheila” on a German television show. That epiphany set him on a course of learning to play guitar and seeking out as many bluegrass and folk records as he could. After writing songs for the bands he formed in high school, Jutz began to study the craft. Following his lifelong dream, and inspired and encouraged by his mentor, songwriter Richard Dobson, Jutz moved to Nashville in 2003. Now firmly established as a producer, musician, and songwriter, Jutz received his first Grammy nomination, in the Best Bluegrass Album category, for his 2020 set, To Live in Two Worlds, Vol. 1. He has written or co-written innumerable bluegrass radio hits, recorded by artists like John Prine, Balsam Range, and The Steeldrivers and most recently, in 2021, Jutz was named IBMA’s songwriter of the year.