I am pleased to announce the recent release of my newest single, Vinegar Pie! Vinegar Pie was written in a fleeting few hours of time alone during the height of Ontario’s vaccine shortage crisis this spring. Every day I felt pummelled with news of canceled deals, new dangers and mismanaged plans. I stumbled upon a video about Vinegar Pie: a depression era recipe from southern Appalachia that is part of a family of recipes called “desperation pies”- recipes that use common staples as substitutes for expensive ingredients in times of hardship. In the case of Vinegar Pie, vinegar and nutmeg are used to simulate the taste of lemons to make a “mock lemon pie”. The timing of this discovery was so powerful that the song jumped swiftly onto the page. As soon as I wrote it, I knew I had to record it and get it out into the world as soon as I could- but we were in a lockdown!
Against all odds, Vinegar Pie was recorded remotely with Don Kerr as producer/percussionist and Brian Kobayakawa on bass in Toronto, Arnie Naiman on guitar in Restoule, Nathan Smith on harmonies in Smiths Falls, and myself on lead vocals and banjo here in Huntsville (check out the photos below)! David Travers-Smith did the mastering and Debbie Adams created this beautiful artwork from their studios in Toronto.
Vinegar Pie is available for download now! Working on this song has inspired me to push forward and begin work on my next album. Every download of this song helps fund production of that album- so please download and spread the word!
www.hannahshiranaiman.com
