The band's core members - Andy Poliakoff, lead vocals, guitar; Paul Ottinger, keyboards, percussion, guitar, vocals and Jarrett Nicolay, bass, guitar, banjo, vocals – have always delighted fans with their ability to confound expectations. On previous albums, their songs often featured arrangements that veered off in unanticipated directions moving from funk to rock, from go go to soul. “It'‟s good being eclectic,” says Poliakoff, the band's main lyricist and frequent spokesperson. “It keeps you on your toes musically, and it's fun, but we wanted to get back to some serious songwriting. In the past few years, we were writing for the live shows, endless groove things that are far from what we wrote when we were starting out. We wanted to get back to that original creative impulse and focus on our songwriting.”
The band ventured cross country to California and got to work, challenging themselves to find a more emotionally intense means of expression. “There's a value to the time you put into a project,” Poliakoff explains. “We didn‟t allow ourselves to be satisfied with the first, or even third version of a song. We're getting older, and we wanted more than bombast. We wanted to look outside ourselves and find something more reflective, more truthful, more universal, to open a new chapter in the band‟s songwriting history.” For the first time, they collaborated with other songwriters, including Brooklyn folk-rocker Ari Hest, New Orleans-based bluesman Anders Osborne, Maia Sharp who wrote “A Home” for the Dixie Chicks, and the album‟s Producer, Marshall Altman (Marc Broussard, Matt Nathanson).
“Marshall is a phenomenal musician,” Poliakoff says. “His ability to tweak the arrangements and get us deeper into the music and our emotions was outstanding. He was there the whole time, pushing us to do better.” Ottinger adds his praise: “He‟s a strong songwriter and arranger. Every time you'd pick up a guitar and sing, he'd get down to every hook, every chord, every lyric. "Is that a strong emotion?" "Is that what you really want to say?" He helped us blend all our influences into a voice that‟s new, but still reflects our past.”
The songs on Home This Year showcase the band‟s remarkable growth as both musicians and songwriters. The title track is a tale of the loneliness and yearning that haunts the road. “Being on the road away from your family and friends for a long period can be tangibly painful," sites Poliakoff, "'Home This Year' embodies that sentiment and how singing about it can help make you feel closer to home." “Sing Along,” written with Altman, is an uplifting, anthemic song, on which Poliakoff delivers one of his most soulful vocals, both tender and passionate. It is also the first tune they've ever cut with a string section. “It was written with a conscious desire to connect with the audience,” Poliakoff explains. “We play music, but we're not different from our audience. We don‟t want people to idolize us, we want to get people to have a sense of togetherness.”
Long-time Virginia Coalition fans may be surprised by the group's evolution from "spontaneous anything goes" band to introspective, soul-searching songwriters, but it's a change the band welcomes. “We've known each other for 15 years now, and while the music is still getting better, we don't want to keep writing the same song over and over,” Poliakoff states firmly. “I'm proud to be part of a group of three friends who have gone from the basement and garage to maturity and making music that speaks from the heart. It's a struggle to make a great album, but we welcomed the opportunity to reinvent ourselves while staying true to the core of what we do.”
Virginia Coalition started building a buzz in their hometown of Alexandria, Virginia in the late '90s, releasing their first album, The Colors of the Sound, in 1998. But the three principals are life long friends who have known each other since high school, and in the case of Ottinger and Nicolay, since junior high. Ottinger wanted to be in a band since he was five years old, when his mother let him paint his face like Paul Stanley of Kiss and play air guitar with a tennis racket. Poliakoff had a guitar-playing cousin, who inspired him in the 4th grade. When he was 14, his mother was struck with cancer and eventually died; music and singing provided him with an emotional release. Nicolay's father played classical guitar. Although he was intimidated, he‟d sneak away from the family and pick out melodies on his own.
Their 2008 album "Home This Year" was critically well received, including a four-and-a-half star rating from AllMusic. They have not released new music since 2008, but as of 2018 are still actively touring, especially in the Washington DC area.
Green And Grey
Virginia Coalition Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You tried to steal your fortune from my diamond mine
Me and my lady were diamond traders
On the African coast of Pomona
And there never seemed to be a price to pay
Until one day the dig just fell through
Remember when that dig fell through
Turning us all to green and grey
Then the rains came
She said how can I love you
When I don't even know you no more
I want to feel free to believe
I want to feel free to rock your soul
And watch my words fall right off your tongue
Me and my lady rode the white falls down
We watched the sun spin our shadows
As they froze in the dust on the ground
And then the rains came
Turning us all to green and grey
Then the rains came
She said how can I love you
When I don't even know you no more
Taking my time down the lonely road
There never seemed such a burden I could handle
She said maybe I won't love you this time around
Maybe I'll get mixed up
Maybe we're all just scared of growing old she said
That's why we cry when the rain comes down
But it turns the dust to mud as the grass grows from the ground
The lyrics of "Green and Grey" by Virginia Coalition tell the complex story of a love that has gone awry due to the struggles of life. The song begins with a metaphorical reference to a diamond mine and diamond traders on the African coast of Pomona. The singer's lady and him were in this business, where the high lives seemed infinite until the dig fell through, and there seemed to be no price to pay.
The rains came, and everything changed. The once successful and happy traders turned into green and grey individuals, symbolizing defeat and despair. The lady expresses her doubts and uncertainty about their relationship, highlighting the fact that she cannot love someone she hardly knows anymore.
As the song continues, the poet expresses a deep desire to believe freely and rock his soul. He takes us on his journey with his lady, riding the white falls down, watching the sun spin their shadows, and freezing as they are set onto the dust in the ground. The rains keep coming, but they bring about new opportunities and growth, signifying that there is hope even in the darkest of times.
Overall, Virginia Coalition's "Green and Grey" encapsulates the complexities of human nature and the struggles that come with it. Even through the toughest of times, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Line by Line Meaning
Fade as if to a whisper
You disappeared from my life without a trace.
You tried to steal your fortune from my diamond mine
You attempted to take advantage of me and my valuable resources.
Me and my lady were diamond traders
My significant other and I were business partners in the diamond trade.
On the African coast of Pomona
Our trade took place on the Pomona coast in Africa.
And there never seemed to be a price to pay
Our business was profitable for a long time without any negative consequences.
Until one day the dig just fell through
We hit a bump in the road when our diamond excavation project failed unexpectedly.
Remember when that dig fell through
We both experienced a significant loss when our diamond excavation project failed.
And then the rains came
A metaphor for a difficult and trying time that followed our loss.
Turning us all to green and grey
Our once colorful and lively world became dull and desolate.
She said how can I love you
When I don't even know you no more
The love between us faded away and was replaced by uncertainty and distance.
I want to feel free to believe
I desire the ability to have faith in something or someone without restraint.
I want to feel free to rock your soul
I want to emotionally move and inspire you.
And watch my words fall right off your tongue
I want to see that my words have a powerful impact on you.
Me and my lady rode the white falls down
We experienced a thrilling, adventurous ride down a waterfall.
We watched the sun spin our shadows
As they froze in the dust on the ground
We marveled at the beautiful sight of our shadows appearing to spin as the sun set, all while standing in dry dirt.
Taking my time down the lonely road
I am slowly traveling on a path by myself.
There never seemed such a burden I could handle
I have never encountered a problem as difficult as the one I am currently facing.
She said maybe I won't love you this time around
My partner expressed doubts about whether she could love me again in the future.
Maybe I'll get mixed up
She considered the possibility that her feelings could become convoluted and uncertain.
Maybe we're all just scared of growing old she said
She suggested that our fear of aging was the root of our relationship problems.
That's why we cry when the rain comes down
We are emotional about the difficult times we are facing.
But it turns the dust to mud as the grass grows from the ground
Although we are struggling, we can take comfort in knowing that growth and new life can emerge from difficult times.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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