Members of folk rock band High Divers have been through a lot in the past five years, and it all comes out on the new album Should I Be Worried? that drops April 7. Guitarist/vocalist Luke Mitchell, keyboardist/vocalist Mary Alice Mitchell and bassist/vocalist Kevin Early deliver a heartfelt album bursting with reminiscence.
“It’s like the people we started out as recording this album are completely different than the ones at the end,” Luke said of his journey with his wife Mary Alice. “We became parents. We lost family members. Our original drummer left the band. We bought a house in North Carolina and we started our own recording studio, which was always a big dream of ours.”
High Divers formed in Charleston in 2014 and subsequently played stages all over the city as a four-piece. Drummers Julius DeAngelis, Josh Hoover and Colin Agnew contributed to various tracks on Should I Be Worried? Guitarist Sadler Vaden of Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit produced half the tracks in Nashville, and Luke produced the other tracks in his home studio just outside Marshall, North Carolina.
“Sadler was very adamant about us writing songs that were really close to the vest,” Luke said.
“He pushed us into writing about things that were autobiographical.”
The straightforward folk rock on Should I Be Worried? stretches out comfortably on a foundation of traditional rock and country components with instrumental and synth intricacies layered in to elevate the relaxed atmosphere. Baroque elements rise up underneath Luke and Mary Alice’s heartstring-pulling vocals on various tracks with sounds from the trumpet, flugelhorn, valve trombone, upright bass, cello and saxophone.
Over the years, High Divers collaborated with members of indie rock band Susto including guitarist Johnny Delaware’s band and Babe Club’s Corey Campbell and Jenna Desmond — and those friendships remain strong. High Divers’ bassist Early is currently on tour with Susto, but he’ll join the High Divers on stage at Charleston Pour House with Desmond and indie rockers Daddy’s Beemer on April 8 to celebrate the album release.
Making sense of past and present
The album title is particularly relevant on the other side of the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak, Luke said.
“It’s saying: ‘Should I actually be worried about anything at all?’ And I think through the pandemic, we kind of had to make that distinction.”
The album cover shows the couple’s house nestled in the mountains outside of Marshall with light beaming through the dark image, revealing a figure in the window.
“That’s me in the window asking, ‘Should I be worried?’ ” Luke said, laughing.
Mary Alice said the album has many moods because it was recorded over such a long time period.
“There’s a lot about great memories of touring and relationships,” she said. “There’s also a lot about loss and adjusting to that. It’s a snapshot of the last five or so years, everything that’s happened to the two of us.”
Their daughter Lucy Gray just turned 15 months, and Luke said after becoming a father, some songs took on a new meaning.
“Hearing songs about people’s kids now is such a different experience,” he said. “I remember sitting on the floor when Lucy was first born and hearing ‘Isn’t She Lovely?’ by Stevie Wonder, and I was just bawling my eyes out because I finally understood it.”
Mary Alice was knocking out vocals for the new album nine months pregnant, and laid vocals down for the last track on the album, “Time Goes By,” only a few days before Lucy was born. She wrote that song along with “Broken,” while Luke wrote the rest of the songs on Should I Be Worried?
“When I’m writing songs, that’s the best possible version of me,” Luke said. “It makes me feel like a lot of things are possible. The world can remain a curious place, and you don’t have to get jaded. Usually it takes a while, but it really helps you process things like grief. And it helps you understand more about your own life when you’re trying to write songs about things that have happened to you. And those songs always bring the most truth.”
For Mary Alice, listening to music is as much of a gift as writing and performing it.
“Songwriting is therapeutic,” she said. “It’s almost like writing in your diary, and of course, listening is just … there’s nothing like it. And seeing live music — I’m just as much of a fan as I am a musician. When people are in the zone, it feels like you’re kind of there but you’re not there.”
Luke added, “I feel like I’m in a flow state when we play. You’re connecting with the audience, but like you’re not completely conscious about everything going on. You could just kind of let go of everything, and that’s a very addictive feeling.”
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