Premiere: Cooper McBean ‘Only For Tonight’ – Latest ‘The Magnolia Sessions’ Releases Today

It’s the first Friday of 2022 so it’s our pleasure to bring you the premiere for Cooper McBean with his stripped back country and folk track Only For Tonight. He joins a long list of troubadours to record in the intimate outdoor setting with engineering guru Dan Emery and forms part of the now infamous The Magnolia Sessions that releases today, 7th January, through Anti-Corporate Music.

Cooper McBean - Photo by Ericka Poore
Cooper McBean – Photo by Ericka Poore

With his installment of The Magnolia Sessions, McBean writes, ‘When I was asked to do The Magnolia Sessions recording, we were in the midst of living through another Summer COVID surge, this one especially bad in the South and Southwest. The future of my band The Devil Makes Three – with whom I have played and toured for the last twenty years – and the music industry in general were uncertain. I hadn’t picked up a guitar in months and hadn’t written a song in ages.’

McBean continues, ‘What you hear is me, alone in a field, remembering how to sing and write and play, nervous about travel and recording, and realizing how important making music is to me, and how much it had been missing from my life. It feels great to be making new work again, and for some of this old stuff to be finally seeing the light of day. Thanks to Dan Emery and Benjamin Tod for pulling me out of my funk and thank you for listening.’

Cooper McBean - Photo by Ericka Poore
Cooper McBean – Photo by Ericka Poore

Adds Anti-Corporate Music and Black Matter Mastering engineer Dan Emery, Cooper was suggested to me by Benjamin Tod of Lost Dog Street Band. I was a little nervous at first, because I felt that The Devil Makes Three may be out of my reach, but Cooper was way into the idea. He had one of the most effortless sessions as well. I can’t think of a single thing that went wrong during his session. He also was one of the only artists to nail every song on the first take. His session was definitely one of the high points of this batch of recordings.’

Now grab your liquor, beer, or wine and click play below to get lost in the sombre track Only For Tonight

More On Cooper McBean

The fifth installment of the new season today yields a record from Cooper McBean. Born in Vermont, he has traveled quite a bit, currently residing in Austin, Texas with his human companion, two small dogs, and seven chickens. He plays banjo and guitar and sings songs, both under his own name and in The Devil Makes Three. In his spare time, he bakes, juggles, knits, messes with modular synthesizers, is a pretty okay dungeon master, but a not very good plumber.

Cooper McBean - Photo by Ericka Poore
Cooper McBean – Photo by Ericka Poore

More On The Magnolia Sessions

The first season of The Magnolia Sessions delivered a new record the first week of every month from its launch in September 2020 through May of 2021. The series showcases bluegrass, dark country, and folk singer/songwriter acts, recorded in an intimate outdoor setting by a large magnolia tree at the Anti-Corporate Music/Black Matter Mastering headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, by owner Dan Emery.

Cooper McBean 'The Magnolia Sessions'
Cooper McBean ‘The Magnolia Sessions’ Artwork

The first season yielded heartfelt releases from Matt Heckler, Jason Dea West, Johno Leeroy, Cristina Vane, Nick Hans, Casper Allen, Jeff Loops, Angela Autumn, Austin Stambaugh, and Ivan Macleod, many of which debuted on the Billboard Bluegrass Charts. Following a break over the summer, the new season of The Magnolia Sessions relaunched in September, having since delivered albums from Lost Dog Street Band, The Hill Country Devil, Joe Wunderle, and The Resonant Rogues.

Watch for additional installments of The Magnolia Sessions the first week of the month from now through to late spring 2022.

Cooper McBean The Magnolia Sessions Tracklisting:
01. Hello
02. Porkchops And Latkes/Sandy River Belle
03. Wheels
04. Hard Times
05. Talkin To The Wall
06. Sally Anne/Big Sciota/Waterbound
07. Only For Tonight
08. Tralee Gaol/Cold Frosty Morning/Fall Of Richmond
09. 4th Of July

Cooper McBean and The Magnolia Sessions is out today, 7th January, via Anti-Corporate Music.

Label: Anti-Corporate Music
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram