We're so proud to say that Coty Hogue has the NUMBER ONE song on the Folk-DJ Charts for the month of June 2011 with "Going to the West." It's also the title of her album, which Hearth Music re-released in May. We've written about Coty before and are fast fans of her beautiful blend of original songs and haunting Appalachian ballads.

To celebrate this accomplishment, we asked Coty to say a few words about how the song came about:

"I heard Going To The West many times in different jam sessions, and I think the version I put on the record is some sort of mash-up of all those different versions! The arrangement just came with me playing around with the song on my banjo. When I went to record it, Aaron Guest, who plays guitar, added a wonderfully subtle 12 string guitar part. While I don't usually change gender around in traditional songs, I did change the perspective around in a line or two to be more personal to myself, as I wanted it to be the title of a personal album. An album about 'going to the west' so to speak where I explore my musical influences being from Montana and heading further west to Bellingham and the Pacific Northwest."

Coty Hogue: Going to the West

 

CONGRATULATIONS ALSO to John Reischman & The Jaybirds, who charted at #9, and Finnders & Youngberg, who charted #24! If you'd like to know more about Hearth Music Promotions, just email us.