(c) Texture Photo

Photo Credit: Texture Photo

The world has bounced back from the Great Recession of 2009 in some respects, but it seems we’re still far from economic stability. Cereus Bright, a folk five-piece out of Knoxville, have witnessed the hardships up close and know that making a life for yourself in the US — much like starting a business or a band — is not what it used to be: Middle class workers toil for little pay while the rich get richer and wealthy criminals get off scot-free.

That’s the focus of “American Dream”, Cereus Bright’s latest song off forthcoming debut album Excuses. “It’s all part of the plan and you know it, do the work for a rich man to turn in,” they sing, honeyed harmonies and cheery acoustic guitar strumming balancing out the track’s bleak message. “You can be anything you want, but you’re nothing at all/ The American Dream is falling into nothing at all, nothing at all.”

Cereus Bright tell Consequence of Sound about the song, saying, “Growing up you hear a lot about the ‘American Dream’ – that anyone can be anything they want to be. But, that’s just not true. Not everyone gets or will ever have those opportunities. Writing this song was a way for us to vent some of our frustration, and by giving a voice to those mixed messages, hopefully making it obvious how ridiculous it all is.”

Stream it below.

Excuses arrives on July 29th; pre-order it here. The LP was produced by the group’s own Evan Ford in Tennessee and mixed by Tom Schick (Wilco, Ryan Adams) at Wilco’s Chicago Studio. For more, check out lead single “River Run”.

Cereus Bright 2016 Tour Dates:

06/28 – Norfolk, VA @ Closeup

06/30 – Greensboro, NC @ Resonate Greensboro

07/01 – Charleston, SC @ Closeup

07/08 – Chattanooga, TN @ Closeup

07/09 – Atlanta, GA @ TBA

07/14 – Athens, GA @ Closeup

07/15 – Birmingham, A @ Small Stages

07/16 – TBA

07/18 – Austin, TX @ Closeup

07/19 – Waco, TX @ Closeup

07/20 – Fort Worth, TX @ Closeup

07/22 – Memphis, TN @ Closeup

07/23 – Nashville, TN @ Closeup

07/31 – St. Louis, MO @ Closeup

08/01 – Kansas City, MO @ Closeup

08/02 – TBA

08/05 – Marshfield, WI @ Vox Music Series

08/06 – Appleton, WI @ Mile of Music

08/07 – Green Bay, WI @ Closeup

08/09 – TBA

08/11 – Milwaukee, WI @ Closeup

08/12 – Burlington, WI @ Tall Tales Festival

08/18 – Indianapolis, IN @ Closeup

08/19 – Chicago, IL @ TBA

08/20 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Audiotree Music Festival

08/21 – TBA

09/30 – Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre