Hank Smith and Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw of the modern bluegrass band Hank, Pattie & the Current joined Aaron on Live & Local last week, to celebrate the release of their new album “Paper Lanterns.”
Formed by Smith and Kinlaw from the remnants of a previous band, Hank, Pattie & the Current (also featuring Stevie Martinez and Billie Feather) has now been together for nine years. Recorded in Asheville and produced by Jason Richmond, “Paper Lanterns” is the band’s fifth full-length album and their first since 2022’s “Letters.”
Smith and Kinlaw finalized many of the songs on a weekend retreat to Nashville – but while they traveled away from the Triangle to write, they say the album revolves around the experience of going home.
“It’s all tied together with (that) concept,” Smith says. “We thought it would be cool if we could tie the album into itself – so as you listen to it, you’ll hear a lot of references to other songs on the record, as well as stuff we’ve already recorded. There are lots of fun Easter eggs to go hunting for.”
The album may be about going home, but you can’t go home without first traveling away – so the songs on “Paper Lanterns” also have a wide geographic range as well.
That includes the title track, which kicks off the album with Cure-inspired music by Smith and lyrics by Kinlaw inspired by a personal memory from England.
“Paper Lanterns was about an experience I had in Liverpool on Halloween night, (when) they have a paper lantern release,” says Kinlaw. “Just for some reason, the music (Hank) sent me hit that evening, that experience.”
Fittingly, the band celebrated the album’s release earlier this summer with a show at Raleigh’s Rialto Theater, a local institution that came back ‘home’ after some time away. Their next show will be on Friday, September 27, at the IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh. (That’s perhaps a bit less fitting, because the IBMA is actually about to leave home: the World of Bluegrass festival is moving to a new location next year.)
Visit WorldOfBluegrass.org for more information on the festival, including a full lineup and ticket information.
Hank Smith and Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw stopped by Live & Local to discuss the album and play three songs live: “The Field,” “Going Home,” and “Swing for the Fences.” Listen:
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