Claude Carmichael With Guitar (2026) [courtesy of Claude Carmichael]
Claude Carmichael Photo With Jane Goodall
Claude Carmichael’s first solo album project – featuring eight tracks – is available now at all streamers worldwide
NASHVILLE, TN, UNITED STATES, August 20, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — After decades spent working behind the scenes, Americana artist Claude Carmichael has stepped out from behind the production desk to take the lead vocalist role with Tennessee Hill, his first solo album, now available both on his website and across all major streaming platforms. Drawing on inspirations from Guy Clark, Van Morrison, Rodney Crowell, and John Hiatt, Carmichael weaves astute reflections on life with a touch of humor, paired with music that reveals a thoughtful poet’s sensibility.
Real heartbreak courses through the tracks of “Tennessee Hill,” especially in songs like “The Bottom of a Well,” which brings the dark wit of Leon Russell’s “Tight Rope” into a tune about being utterly down and still finding a way to laugh about it, and “Instead of Me,” a piece built from a friend’s remark about a divorce that Carmichael initially wrote for a female voice (and still hopes to record that way someday).
Classic honky-tonk storytelling appears in “Full Time Heartache,” a cheating song co-written with Jeanie McQuinn and road-tested on a dance floor in Virginia, driven forward by Travis Toy’s steel guitar. Meanwhile, a humor-filled nod to the transformation of his Tennessee hometown emerges in “Too Many Yankees (Bless Their Hearts),” a true story told fondly by a longtime local who—having spent a third of his life in New York City—is more than qualified to poke fun, especially with a “Bonafide Yankee” like Casey Wasner co-producing the track.
“Tennessee Hill” softens into more personal territory on “Precious One,” a lullaby Carmichael wrote for his daughter, and “The Last Lullaby,” an old-fashioned love song that feels almost 19th century, tracing back to a barefoot, overalls-clad serenade he once played beneath a girl’s window on a violin he could barely play. That story is now beautifully rendered on the record with the exquisite playing of violist Audrey Swank.
“Sonia Lee” borrows its title from the name of a fellow Nashville songwriter and repurposes it for one of Carmichael’s most vivid summer memories. Then there’s the title track, “Tennessee Hill,” which gave the album its name and its soul. It is a quiet account of the night Carmichael realized, while driving home from the Bluebird Cafe, that Franklin was no longer just a stop along the way—it was home.
Recorded and co-produced by Claude Carmichael and Casey Wasner at Purple House in Leipers Fork, Tennessee, Tennessee Hill is the latest musical achievement in a storied career largely built behind the scenes of the music industry. From early days singing alongside Billy Joel on The Stranger (at the invitation of producer Phil Ramone) to award-winning years as a music director, producer, and arranger for IMAX film soundtracks and television specials, “Tennessee Hill” represents Claude’s long-awaited move toward the spotlight—a cohesive collection that marks just the beginning of a chapter of music crafted with sharp observations by an expert musician at the start of a delightful new era.
More on Claude Carmichael’s career, awards, and film and TV work can be found at Bigscreenmusic.com. You can find more about Tennessee Hill at claudecarmichael.com
Tennessee Hill Tracklist
1. Bottom of a Well
2. Tennessee Hill
3. Full Time Heartache
4. Instead of Me
5. Sonia Lee
6. Too Many Yankees (Bless Their Hearts)
7. Precious One
8. The Last Lullaby
About Claude Carmichael:
Claude Carmichael is a singer, songwriter, and producer whose career spans New York session work (Billy Joel, The Bermuda Depths) and environmental/documentary music, including a Daytime Emmy for “This Island Earth” and IMAX soundtracks with artists like Bonnie Raitt and Paul McCartney. Now settled in Franklin, Tennessee, he released his debut album, Tennessee Hill, in 2026.
Matt Bjorke
PLA Media
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“Bottom of a Well”
