Folk Uke, the rootsy music project from Amy Nelson and Cathy Guthrie, address toxic masculinity and the threat it poses to all living things in their new song “Small One.”
Under deceptively sweet guitar strums and melancholic steel pedal, Nelson and Guthrie target a man who has gotten too “big-headed” for his own good. “You must have a small one/To act like such a big one,” they sing cheekily.
Along with Nelson and Guthrie, the song also features Jeff Klein (My Jerusalem) on guitar, Rami Jaffee (Foo Fighters) on keys, Bill Reynolds (Band of Horses) on bass, JT Bates (Bonny Light Horseman/Big Red Machine) on percussion, Matt Pynn (Dwight Yoakam, Miley Cyrus) on pedal steel, and Walker Lukens and McKenzie Griffin on backing vocals. Klein also produced “Small One,” and helped each musician record their track remotely from separate lockdown studios during the coronavirus pandemic.
A portion of the proceeds from the limited edition 7″ single of “Small One” will go toward Grassroots Leadership, a human rights organization that aims to end prison profiteering, mass incarceration, deportation and criminalization.
Folk Uke released their last LP, Starfucker, in 2016. The duo was previously scheduled to tour this summer with Jamey Johnson and Whiskey Meyers, but their live shows have been postponed due to the pandemic.
