Unspoken Tradition has released “Refugee,” the group’s first new track since Resilience, via Mountain Home Music Company. The song arrives as the western North Carolina band continues to grapple with hurricane Helene’s aftermath and longer-running pressures in Appalachian communities.
Singer-guitarist Audie McGinnis frames the single’s premise as an appeal to meet in the middle. “People from all walks of life are feeling that something isn’t right with society and the governing of it,” he says, adding that many residents, particularly in Appalachia, feel overlooked when crises hit. “This song is about the hard lessons we’ve learned over months, years, decades, and generations. But the hope is found when we realize this song is about all of us.”
The arrangement leans into classic bluegrass. Harmony vocals from Sav Sankaran (upright bass) and Tim Gardner (fiddle) surround McGinnis’s lead, while Ty Gilpin (mandolin) and Zane McGinnis (banjo) drive a defiant chorus that rejects exclusion and champions working people.
Songwriter Aaron Bibelhauser wrote “Refugee.”
Author: World Music Central News Room
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