Carmine Vates Sings A Soulful Tune of “Virginia”

Carmine Vates is the brainchild of Brooklyn based singer and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Birk.. His newest song is called, “Virginia.” He wrote it in the Fall of 2013, influenced by the soul music of the late 1960’s and early 70’s, specifically by the sound that came out of Muscle Shoals. The lyric was inspired by a trip to rural Virginia, where pastoral, humid landscapes punctuated with monuments to Confederate leaders suggested an entrenched culture, where a certain topics are simply not discussed, and underlying tensions fester. That was the starting point, but the song is ultimately an expression of Birk’s own struggles with social interaction.

The song features Birk on vocals and guitar, with Ned Steves on bass, and Henry Vaughn on drums. The horn section features Evan Lane on trumpet, Bobby Schwartz on tenor saxophone, and Ethan Silverman on baritone sax. Engineering by Artur Szerejko, mixing by Jack Hallenbeck, mastering by Jamal Ruhe.

When we listened to the track we immediately had visions of driving on a long open rode, maybe somewhere in Virginia even. The song features some extremely smooth lyrics, and chords that complement it in a way that makes the song very interesting. The horn section breakdown at around 2:44 is something everyone should hear! Check out the track below.