The Runout – “Mama Put the Record On”

The Runout are a new alt-americana band based in Columbia who are gearing up to release their debut album, Ready or Not, on Friday, May 24th. This morning, they released the album’s first single, “Mama Put the Record On”. If you’re feeling some type of sad today, this song might do the trick. It’s down-tempo alt-country that’s accented by harmonica, with lyrics about finding a peaceful moment to accept your demons and listen to a record with somebody you love.

The Runout was started by Columbia natives Jeff Gregory and Travis Wright, who grew up playing music together during high school, but then went their separate ways for college. That was back in the 90s, and by the time Jeff and Travis linked back up to play together again, it was 2017, and they were both married with kids. Travis played a bit of guitar on Jeff’s solo EP, Moonlight, which was released in 2017, and The Runout was formed in early 2018 when Jeff expressed interest in performing the songs from the EP in a live environment. They recruited Jeff’s former high school student Daniel Gibbs to jump around bass, guitar, and keys, and Gavin Brown on drums, and began playing shows around the Carolinas.

When the time came to start recording Ready or Not, the band decided to split time between Columbia’s Archer Avenue Studio, where the Moonlight EP was cut, and in Charleston at Coast Records, where Jeff had tracked some bass with Youth Model. Half of the 10-track album was done with Eric McCoy at Archer Avenue, and the other half with Matt Zutell at Coast Records, both of whom Jeff was extremely happy to work with. This particular single, “Mama Put the Record On”, was recorded at Coast Records.

Listen to “Mama Put the Record On” by The Runout on Spotify below, and watch the accompanying music video below that.