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I Hope I Know

by Seth Walker

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of I Hope I Know via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Seth Walker I Hope I Know

    Includes unlimited streaming of I Hope I Know via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Limited Edition Orange 180-Gram Vinyl
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

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1.
The Future Ain't What It Used To Be 03:20
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The future ain’t what it used to be no more Nothings gonna be the way it was before Where we were headed is no longer found Climbing a ladder to a hole in the ground The future ain't what it used to be no more I had my eyes on the prize headed for the finish line I knew just around the corner, the dream was mine But then the world flipped around and slowed me down And I got a good look at what I need I must say I am glad to see a change in me I had my eyes on the prize headed for the finish line I knew just around the corner, the dream was mine But then the world flipped around and slowed me down And I got a good look at what I need I must say I am glad to see a change in me The future ain’t what it used to be no more Nothings gonna be the way it was before Where we were headed is no longer found Climbing a ladder to a hole in the ground The future ain't what it used to be no more The future ain't what it used to be no more Maybe I finally found what I‘m looking for The future ain’t what it used to be
2.
Why Do I Cry Anymore 03:28
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Why do I even cry anymore When I’ve seen all these tears before Why can’t I even sleep through the night When I know you should be out of my mind My friends say, it’s no use You’ve been gone so long I’m doing all I know to do, to try to get over you Still I go on and on and on and on Why do I even cry anymore When I know its not worth crying for You ever get that feeling that there ain't no reason for why your mind is reeling And you get can't get right and eyes are wide in the dead of night tears and the fears and the years are piling up behind you  Like cars of a train on a cold cold rail and you scream what the hell is going in here And the questions are begging and begging and begging for an answer  And you're on your knees asking please Why do I even cry anymore When I know its not worth crying for
3.
Hope I Know 03:17
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Hope I hope I know to send a prayer up from my soul Hope I hope I know hope I know just how it goes How do I say forgive me How do I say thank you How do I say I love you If I’m not coming home Hope I hope I know how to sing the sweet refrain Hope I hope I know Hope I know the words to say How do I say forgive me How do I say thank you How do I say I love you If I’m not coming home Hope I hope I know How to keep from growing cold Hope I hope I know Hope I know just how to hold you Hope I hope I know Hope I hope I know
4.
Remember Me 02:19 video
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Remember Me As the morning light Falling on your face The break of a day Remember me Deep in the night Awake in your dream More real than it seems So much more than memory The words we never said Still won’t let me be And all the love we made  Will never end And if you want to feel that way again Remember me So much more than memory The words we never said Still won’t let me be And all the love we made  Will never end And if you want to feel that way again Remember me When you can't forget how good love can be Please, remember me
5.
Satisfy My Mind 03:39
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6.
Tennessee Blues 03:14
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If I had my way, I’d leave here today And I would leave in a hurry I’d find me a place where I could stay  And not have to worry A place I’d feel loose A place I could lose These Tennessee Blues   I’d find me a spot, on a mountain top With no one around me With valleys and streams And birds in the trees With lakes that surround me A place I’d feel loose A place I could lose These Tennessee Blues   A place to forget, all my regrets And keep just the good times A place I could sleep in nothing but peace And feel free at all times A place I’d feel loose A place I could lose These Tennessee Blues
7.
Warm Love 03:28
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Look at the ivy on the cold clinging wall Look at the flowers and the green grass so tall It's not a matter of when push comes to shove It's just an hour on the wings of a dove It's just warm love It's just warm love I dig it when you're fancy dressed up in lace I dig it when you have a smile on your face This inspiration's got to be on the flow These invitations got to see it and know It's just warm love It's just warm love And it's ever present everywhere And it's ever present everywhere Warm love And it's ever present everywhere And it's ever present everywhere That warm love To the country I'm going Lay and laugh in the sun You can bring your guitar along We'll sing some songs and we'll have some fun The sky is crying and it's time to go home And we shall hurry to the car from the foam Sit by the fire and dry out our wet clothes It's raining outside from the skies up above Inside it's warm love Inside it's warm love
8.
River 03:46
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There's a river running thru us There's a current you can’t see If you fight it, it'll drown you But surrender will set you free   I've spent my life hiding Hiding from the truth The only fool I was fooling Is standing in front of you   River ol’ river, have your way with me River ol’ river, wash me out to sea   Consider this an invitation I extend to you And don't forget your demons You know they're welcome too   River ol’ river, have your way with me River ol’ river, wash me out to sea
9.
Buckets Of Rain 03:33
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Buckets of rain Buckets of tears Got all them buckets coming out of my ears Buckets of moonbeams in my hand You got all the love, honey baby I can stand I’ve been meek And hard like an oak I seen pretty people disappear like smoke Friends will arrive, friends will disappear If you want me, honey baby I’ll be here Like your smile And your fingertips Like the way that you move your hips I like the cool way you look at me Everything about you is bringing me Misery Little red wagon Little red bike I ain’t no monkey but I know what I like I like the way you love me strong and slow I’m takin’ you with me, honey baby When I go Life is sad Life is a bust All ya can do, is do what you must You do what you must do, and ya do it well I’ll do it for you, honey baby Can’t you tell?
10.
Peace In The Valley 03:46
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We need some peace in the valley Show us a sign from up above Can’t take no more, war We need some peace in the valley We’ve been up in arms now for oh so long Battered and tattered and torn Why can't we let go, we don't need this anymore Oh no, must the battle go on forever in our souls? We need some peace in the valley Show us a sign from up above Can’t take no more, war We need some peace in the valley It’s so easy to go astray  feeling so far from home, we can’t find our way There’s something so sweet waiting other side That you and I might never see, lost in deep divide We need some peace in the valley Show us a sign from up above Can’t take no more, war We need some peace in the valley Peace in the valley Peace in the valley

about

“I was just in it, swimming through it. There was no plan.” Despite swirls of uncertainty surrounding him, Seth Walker’s new album, I Hope I Know is a beacon of light, each of its ten songs shining forth with what many have come to love about Walker and his soulful Americana: diverse influences, contemplative lyrics, that signature blue tone on the guitar, and movement both geographic and spiritual. Walker’s 11th recording to date, it continues a long-running collaboration with producer Jano Rix.

Walker credits I Hope I Know to the practice of “search and surrender”—a quest for new meaning in things he may never fully understand. It’s a beautiful reckoning with heartbreak, moving across states, not knowing when the next tour will begin among other mysteries encountered day to day existence. The ten track collection could best be described as Walker's 'round-midnight album. Its tempos are slower and tonality darker than on previous work, one where Walker had to “sit with it,” trying and failing without forcing anything: not time, not the songwriting or its grooves, not a sense of control, not even his own healing.

The first sessions for the record began in 2019, however the breakup of a longtime romantic relationship and the onset of the pandemic in 2020 led Walker to relocate from his home in Nashville, Tennessee to Asheville, North Carolina, not far from where he was born and raised. The emotional heft of these events paired with the time and space afforded by not being able to tour factored heavily in what was to follow. The set opener “The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be” confirms that we are indeed in a world of unknowns. The song’s lyric detailing his journey: "But then the world flipped around and slowed me down, I got a good look at what I need, I must say I am glad to see a change in me." It's followed by “Why Do I Cry Anymore,” which asks unanswerable questions about recovering from heartbreak; as Walker works through those troubles, he ultimately comes to the conclusion that love is still worth it.

Walker had to learn to live in flux, finding solace in poets like Rainer Maria Rilke: “Learn to love the questions themselves.” While uncertainty drives the album, it’s ultimately an ode to hope. The title track came from a Hawaiian poem about forgiveness and reconciliation that his mother sent, the Ho’oponopono Prayer, which translates as “I am sorry. Forgive me. Thank you. I love you.” Walker confirms, “There is hope in the space of it all.” Indeed the softness of the guitar pairs with the ‘o’ sounds and harmony vocals by special guest Allison Russell to produce a tenderness that helps us befriend whatever is ahead.

With a healing prayer underway, the album explores, without bells and whistles, what Walker calls "a finer point on the raw tone and color that I was shaded in.​​” The song “Remember Me” haunts with old jazz and blues, a falsetto vocal, dusty drums and arco acoustic bass. It was born from Walker staring at a bookshelf; comparing a lost relationship to how “prose and poetry leave imprints and memories on the page that will never fade.” And “Satisfy My Mind” is a boggy, but spacious blues, infused with a Buddhist quest. “River” is a dirgeful ode to that elusive surrender, featuring Walker’s touring band in the studio: “We cut that in one afternoon...just set up some mics, and the next thing we knew, it spilled out. In looking back, the songs that ended up making this album are the ones that we didn’t chase.”

Three cover songs offer the familiar to hold onto—a tinge of the nostalgic without the impulse to cling to the past. The Bobby Charles’ song “Tennessee Blues” perfectly speaks to Seth moving from Nashville to the Asheville mountains trying to “figure out what just happened, post breakup.” Van Morrison’s “Warm Love” was recommended to him—and when Walker embraced the song—it became the “perfect respite and breather.” Bob Dylan’s “Buckets of Rain” came spontaneously like a dream; Seth woke up one morning and “almost mumbled it into my cell phone. It just kinda happened when I wasn’t looking.”

The pandemic can affect limitations in production, but that didn’t stop the team of Jano Rix and Walker. They laid half of the tracks together in Nashville. Walker said Rix “was masterful [at] allowing room for me, while gently guiding and keeping the thing on the tracks. His contribution to this album is immeasurable.” Oliver Wood—Rix’s bandmate in The Wood Brothers—cowrote three of the songs, along with longtime collaborators Gary Nicholson and Jarrod Dickenson.

Following Walker’s 2019 album, Are You Open?—which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Blues Album Chart—he responded to the question posed by that title, opening himself up to gain a more observational state. “This last year and a half has personally cracked me open. In many ways, for the first time, I'm observing myself and how I relate to the music, how I sit with the feeling, the emotion, my shadow and light.” In many ways, the disruption of Walker’s constant state of creating and performing was fruitful. “I have always been in this place of action, and finally, when all this happened, I found myself in a place of relinquishing—an active state of inaction.” It’s that sensibility that closes the album with the tranquil invocation, “Peace In The Valley.”

In the time between Are You Open? and I Hope I Know, Walker’s new state of awareness and time off the road allowed for his first book to flow forward in poetry, prose, and art—a memoir of sorts entitled Your Van is on Fire: The Miscellaneous Meanderings of a Musician comprised by short stories from his life along with his poetry and paintings. Walker was somewhat in disbelief: “When I dug into the book, it was complete, pure muse...it was just me staring out the window and spilling my guts onto the page.” The different form allowed Walker freedom from preconceived notions. He acknowledged that “When you’ve done something you've done for so long, there’s residue.” Writing poetry, or being free from rhyme, for instance, made him more aware of the musicality of words. Your Van is on Fire empowered Walker’s voice, even amidst the fray: “It did make room for these new songs to come through, in ways I am not even aware of.”

I Hope I Know took longer to make and thus feels completely unique from the previous ten recordings in Walker's discography. Indeed, Walker confirms that the album “wasn’t approached with as heavy a hand. I had more time with it. It was not a time to rush, there is more space, you know along the lines of poetry that reveals itself over time.” In its totality, I Hope I Know creates a deep but relatable journey, shining a light and by the end offering a safe haven centered around the most precious of all gifts, Hope.

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released May 20, 2022

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Seth Walker Asheville, North Carolina

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