Tony Kamel’s latest album, We’re All Gonna Live, centers around a piece of advice that his grandma shared with him - life is full of struggles. They’re inevitable and you just have to be ready to fight them with a smile on your face. Tony passes along this optimistic outlook with a collection of songs that are full of hope and reasons to celebrate during hard times. Always a compelling storyteller, Kamel wrote eight of the ten songs using family, friends, and even a stranger that he encountered on the street as the inspiration behind the characters. The narratives focus on the positive aspects of these relationships and making the most out of the hand we’re dealt.

Knowing the concept of the album, it’s not surprising to find songs that revolve around saying goodbye to the people we love. “Damn Good Ride” was written after the death of his grandma about how she “saddled up this big old world and took it for a spin” and “Sue” reminds us that “loving and grieving - they go hand in hand.”

An old-timey bluegrass breakdown in the middle of “All Around This World” might make it hard to sit still during the love song about the loneliness of being a traveling musician that just wants to be home with his family. Since becoming a father, Kamel has had to navigate being on the road while missing time with his daughter. “Some Ole Day” is about how quickly she’s growing up and getting closer to the day when she’ll move out on her own, but he will always be there for her. He touches on their unbreakable bond again in the a capella piece “A Father & A Daughter” with lines like “even death don’t bother what a father and a daughter got” delivered in three-part harmony.

Hardcore bluegrass fans might not appreciate the unique interpretation of Bill Monroe’s “Old Dangerfield” but this rocking version highlights the talented musicians that were a part of the album and the fun that was had during the recording process. The only other song that Tony didn’t write, a cover of “Little Bitty Town” by Danny Barnes, fits the theme of the album by painting a picture of small town life and the desire to leave it and its memories behind.

After starting off the album with “Makin’ It Work” in spite of the chaos and uncertainty surrounding us, because “I’m gonna die” and “you’re gonna die too,” the album wraps up with the title track, as a sort of redemption song, and Kamel repeating that “we’re all gonna live.”

The ten tracks were recorded at The Bunker, the studio owned by co-producer Bruce Robison, where everyone performs together in the same room at the same time. There are no digital modifications; what you hear is how it happened in that room, often in only one or two takes. This stripped-down approach showcases the remarkable talent of everyone that contributed to the album while also making it easier to replicate the songs on stage. Kamel himself plays many of the instruments heard throughout the songs, including clawhammer banjo, harmonica and tambourine, with an all-star cast of musicians joining him to provide the rest of the sounds.

We’re All Gonna Live is a happy album about the sad and difficult situations that many of us will go through. It’s a reminder to keep traveling towards the light, and to have a good time along the way, because “the road is rocky now, my love, but it won’t be rocky long.”

Find out more about Tony at the links below: