Sister Hazel Revisit ‘Champagne High’ to Raise Awareness, Funds for Touring Crew [WATCH]
Sister Hazel's "Champagne High" is still just a song about watching an ex get married and wondering "What if?" Singer and writer Ken Block compares it to Garth Brooks' "Unanswered Prayers" while saying that 20 years later, the meaning hasn't changed, even if he has a little more to dwell on.
The Front Porch Jams Sister Hazel have been releasing to YouTube, of which this acoustic "Champagne High" performance is a part, are the only place to find the rockers in 2020. Block understands there's not much he can do to control when Sister Hazel will return to the road, so he and his bandmates are focusing on positive things: writing, interacting with fans and taking care of their road family.
“We’re a working American band," he tells Taste of Country. "We don’t have the luxury of — not that we would want to stop doing what we’re doing — but we have to work throughout the year just like any other career."
That's true for the crew, too: men and women who may not have the same alternative streams of income that Block and his Sister Hazel bandmates do. For that reason, the group is raising funds via GoFundMe to help their workers stay afloat. So often we turn to musicians for help in times of trouble, but with the live music industry shut down, it's these people who need a lift. Think of Block (and any artist) less as a celebrity, and more of a small business owner, and you start to see where the trouble begins.
“We’re not on the cover of Rolling Stone and we’re not all millionaires, but we are all earning a living for a lot of years and I’m very proud of that," the frontman says during a phone call from his home turf in Gainesville, Fla.
Sister Hazel are based in Florida but visit Nashville often to write with top songwriters and participate in music events such as the CMT Music Awards. There's an appreciation for their catalog among country fans who grew up in the '90s and early '00s. Songs like "All for You" are all-time jams, while "Champagne High" is a thought-provoking journey that Block wrote just before marrying his wife Tracy.
“You’re faced with decisions in life where you may have taken a left turn instead of a right turn and your day, your month, your year, your life could be completely different,” he says, summarizing the song. That's not unique to "What if?" relationships — there's not a day that goes by without several dozen of these turns.
The band hopes a turn will soon lead them back to the stage, if only for the crew's sake.
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