New England Folk and Roots Music Publication

New England Folk and Roots Music Publication

InterviewsMusic Features

Singled Out: Eastern Mountain Time ‘How I Live’

Who: Eastern Mountain Time

Hometown: Burlington, VT

Song: “How I Live”

Last Record: Mountain Country (https://easternmountaintime.bandcamp.com/album/mountain-country)

What About It: “I consider “How I Live” to be one of Eastern Mountain Time’s more optimistic songs, but I am aware that that’s a very relative statement.

Lyrically, the bulk of the Eastern Mountain Time songbook is highly focused on trying to squeeze meaning and worth out of distress and loss and that has always been because those are the themes I tend to gravitate towards as a listener. With “How I Live” I wanted to tackle all of that same shit, but from a place of acceptance and gratitude instead of defeat.

I love including this song in Eastern Mountain Time’s live shows because, in my mind at least, it has the ability to balance out a little bit of our set’s latent cynicism. And sometimes I just need to sing these words to remind myself that I’m not a total mess 100% of the time.”

Brian Carroll

Brian Carroll is the founder of Red Line Roots. He is a Massachusetts native that got his start as a musician in the very community he now supports.