There’s so many people out there, people who adore music, that wish they could learn an instrument or dust off that microphone they bought on a whim and have an earnest go at making music. The same old excuse that we turn to is that we don’t have enough time. Until the American covid lockdown of 2020, Iowa resident Marissa Kephart would have counted herself in this group, but suddenly with so much time on her hands, she started a 20-year goal of learning the guitar and taking voice lessons.
Around the same time, multi-instrumentalist and producer Scott Yoshimura opened up his home studio to friends and colleagues, one of whom was Kephart. When she arrived with a demo version of ‘Meet Me Halfway’, the pair discovered a mutual interest in the same bands and an enjoyment for working together. And thus, ELISON was born!
As it turns out, ‘Meet Me Halfway’ has become the debut single from this newly formed midwest indie-rock duo. Below Kephart reflects on the journey that brought the project this far:
“To watch this song grow into the track that it is from a seed of an idea while I fumbled over chords on my acoustic guitar to this full, forward driving, at times powerful, song feels very much like a metaphor of myself and my first year journey into music. No longer holding onto the things that held me back, I’m exploring new creative outlets that I always wished I had earlier in my life, but was never brave enough to do.”
The track itself centers around another courageous leap, that is leaving an unhealthy relationship. From the opening, ‘Meet Me Halfway’ quite literally propels the listening into a driving motion, moving us as far away from the toxic situation as possible. These marching guitar chords and drums persist throughout, while the delicate synth keys indicate hope on the horizon. It’s the chorus though where things really pick up; shoegazey strings and an incredibly catchy hook that’ll having you singing “I don’t wanna be in love if you can’t meet me halfway” at the top of your liberated lungs.
We seriously love ELISON‘s sound and we’ll be listening out for more.
Find ‘Meet Me Halfway’ in our Indie Rockers playlist.
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