Mascot Label Group Announces Signing of Shaman’s Harvest
Band and MLG Premiere “Country As Fuck” off of Smokin’ Hearts & Broken Guns, Due out September 16
Stream the Track Exclusively on Artistdirect.com Today Starting at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern!
Mascot Label Group North America has announced the signing of Jefferson City, Missouri’s Shaman’s Harvest along with the band’s MLG debut Smokin’ Hearts & Broken Guns, which will be released in North America on September 16. Label President Ron Burman comments, “Nathan Hunt is an amazing, powerful vocalist and the band writes universally appealing songs that rock! I’ve been a fan of Shaman’s Harvest for a few years now and I’m very excited to be working with them.”
Shaman’s Harvest ~ Nathan Hunt, Josh Hamler, Matt Fisher, and Ryan Tomlinson ~ achieved significant success with their independently released album Shine; stand-out track “Dragonfly” rose to number #16 on Billboard’s Active Rock chart and #9 at Heritage Rock, selling over 150,000 singles and tens of thousands of albums. To date, the video has been viewed 2.3 million times on YouTube. Additionally, the composition was featured on the soundtrack of the major motion picture Legendary. In 2010, Shaman’s Harvest, now sponsored by Ernie Ball Strings, caught the attention of the WWE and cut “Broken Dreams” as the theme song for wrestler Drew McIntyre and “End of Days” as the entrance track for Wade Barrett and The Corre.
The band members all grew up together in the heartland of the USA, and front man Hunt proudly shares, “Living in Missouri is awesome. There’s a beauty in the grit of us Midwesterners. We work hard, make babies, drink too damn much, and we’re not afraid to rebuild and start over when we get God-smacked. We have an art community all our own, inspired by wind in the wheat fields, and summer morning haze off the rivers and streams. If shit is broke we either fix it ourselves, or put it up on blocks for yard art.”
Nate, photo courtesy of courtesy of Lisa Vogeler Hostetter
Just as Shaman’s Harvest began recording Smokin’ Hearts & Broken Guns, Hunt was diagnosed with throat cancer and reveals that, “I immersed myself in this record, committed to not missing a day. I didn’t know if it was gonna be my last record so it was treatment, then studio, then some days back for more treatment. Everyone deals with cancer differently. There was a period I felt alone and a couple tracks speak to that directly and other times I felt overwhelming love for my mates and people who were there for me. I was lucky enough to be recording during it and it’s all there.”
“It’s all there” is a very accurate statement, as the album is diverse in content and showcases a band unafraid of expressing a full range of feelings. The tracks are cinematic and evocative, designed to bring back memories, inspire some hopes and dreams, and provide both entertainment and the opportunity for reflection; that’s a tall order for one band to fill in just one album, but Shaman’s Harvest does it seamlessly and authentically. Says Hunt, “Whether they’re driving down the highway, at work, or doin’ the nasty, these songs should be the soundtrack. I think people will accept the diversity from song to song whether it’s a riff rock vibe like ‘Here It Comes’ or it’s a darker, emotional anthem such as ‘Ten Million Voices’ without categorizing Shaman’s.”
A big congratulations! I know these guys gave it their all and have been working hard to get to where they are!! Matt Fisher grew up with my sons