(Nashville, Tennessee...) - July 26, 2017 - When Kory Caudill began making plans to record his second album, he knew the focus had to be on one of his strongest passions - his home state of Kentucky and specifically the area surrounding his Prestonsburg roots. The aptly titled Song for Appalachia EP features six songs old and new and was produced by Sean Truskowski and Caudill.

 

"When I set out to make my new record, I knew I wanted to focus on where I'm from in Appalachia," said Kory. "For the music video to the title track, we wanted  to highlight the things that make eastern Kentucky special."

 

Kory turned to fellow eastern Kentuckians to lend vocals on three of the cuts on Song for Appalachia. Singer/songwriter Josh Martin sings "The Way Back Home" and "Teardrop Inn," and Jerica Blair brings in a stellar rendition of "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue." Kory and the Fine Southern Gentlemen round out the collection with the rousing "Bourbon and Boogie" and the contemplative "Wish I Could Stay."

 

The unique album cover comes from a painting by multimedia artist Josh Bunch from Slabtown Studios. The original painting was made from ground coal dust that Josh collected from Black Mountain and other mines in eastern Kentucky. As Josh puts it, "it was made with the same coal dust that fed many families back home, and the same coal that brought cancer to our loved ones' lungs." The painting was formatted for music distribution wonderfully by Jefferson Rodriguez, who also created the album art for Kory's debut album, Tree of Life. "We have a lot of history with that coal, and I'm honored to have been allowed to use Josh's artwork as part of this album," said Kory.

 

Song For Appalachia is available at iTunes, Amazon and other online retailers. 

A classically trained pianist, Kory signed as the flagship artist to Naxos USA's Suite 28 Records label. His influences range widely from Frederic Chopin to Ricky Skaggs and from Bruce Hornsby to Yanni. He began playing melodies on the piano when he was only a toddler, and now he is one of the most sought after keyboardists in the country.