Ten years and five records in, Murfreesboro’s own Glossary decided to switch up the formula. The band recently released its newest album, The Better Angels of Our Nature via its website, glossary.us, free of charge.
“For a band of our size, the current business model that artists and labels use to put out music doesn’t work,” Singer and primary lyricist, Joey Kneiser said. He explained releasing the record for free would give “more people the ability to find us and hear us,” leading to more people coming to shows and picking up the older records from the band’s catalog.
“We have no way of knowing for sure how much it has been downloaded,” Kneiser said, adding that heavy traffic did shut the site down twice.
The band, consisting of Kneiser’s wife Kelly, Eric Giles, Todd Beene, Bingham Barnes and Matt Rowland, has also released physical copies of the album, with limited-edition covers screened by different regional artists (the first screened by Murfreesboro’s Grand Palace) and is considering releasing the record on vinyl.
Eric Reiberg of Indianapolis said the song “Little Caney” from the latest Glossary offering provided some comfort and understanding as he remembered his grandmother. Glossary began offering the free tracks the same weekend as the anniversary of Reiberg’s grandmother’s death.
“Joey Kneiser, the songwriter and lead vocalist for Glossary, is always deft at keeping his lyrics engaging but austere,” Reiberg writes on reiberg.blogspot.com. “In this particular composition, he knocks the cover off the ball. It also helps that the melody and orchestration of the song are a pitch-perfect, rock ’n’ roll epic.”
The band has toured all around the country, playing events such as South by Southwest this year in Texas and are gearing up for another round of dates in support of The Better Angels of Our Nature.
Kneiser expressed a great love of touring and said he wished Glossary toured even more. He compared being on the road to being a pirate, “You rock and you pillage, then you hit the next town and do it again.
“Along the way [you hope] you make some new fans.”
One central aspect of the band is the theme that runs through the songs: the message of doing what you love.
“In the long run, happiness is everything. You only get one life, and you’re only doing a disservice to yourself to not do what truly makes you happy,” Kneiser said.
This concept is even easier to see when looking at the inspiration for Kneiser’s lyrics: “Just paying attention to things, listening and keeping my eyes open; wanting to trap ideas and put them into music.”
A picture of what Glossary stands for can be seen in the lyrics to the record’s last track, “Blood on the Knobs.”
We’ll walk on that stage and play like it’s the last time/’Cause it might be/It might be/ Turn the amps on and count it out /Close your eyes /Take a breath/ This is what it’s like to live without doubt.
For more information on the band and to download The Better Angels of Our Nature, visit glossary.us.
