High Valley Releases ‘Grew Up On That’ EP: ‘We Want to Bring Families Together’ (Exclusive)

Country duo High Valley’s new EP, Grew Up on That, was released on May 22, and brothers Brad and Curtis Rempel have one simple hope for their latest project. “We want to bring families together, and we want them to understand that even though right now they’re physically probably closer together than they’ve ever been for longer periods of time, that long after this quarantine ends, we hope that this package can be songs about life that they can actually apply to their lives,” Brad told PopCulture.com

The majority of the songs on the EP were co-written by Brad, who worked with several hitmakers, including Tenille Townes, Daniel Tashian, Randy Montana and Corey Crowder. The lone outside cut, “Your Mama,” was co-written by Florida Georgia Line‘s Tyler Hubbard and “steals the show every night” when High Valley played it on tour, according to Brad. The song is an ode to the duo’s wives told from the lens of a father speaking to his children and praising their mom, something both Brad and Curtis shared that has become an even more prominent theme in their lives in the years since their last project.

“My kids are younger than Brad’s,” Curtis explained. “There was a couple of times Brad was like, ‘Hey, what do you think about this song?’ And it was about having kids and raising kids and all that stuff. And I just, I’m like, ‘Man, I don’t really care. I don’t even have kids.’ And that has all been changing. My boy is 6 years old now. And I’m all about the songs about raising a family and speaking into the lives of the young people around us.” Along with “Your Mama,” “One Day You’ll Get It” also fits that bill and was inspired by a talk Brad had with his son.

“He was about to start practicing with the middle school football kids even though he wasn’t in middle school yet,” Brad recalled. “I was like ‘Man, he’s going to either learn a lot of stuff from these boys in the locker room, or he’s going to learn it from me today.’ So we drove out in the country, and I said, ‘You might not get all this stuff right now, but one day you’ll get it.’”

Grew Up On That is High Valley back where the duo began, bringing in a modern bluegrass feel and spotlighting the brothers’ practiced harmonies, which get their own Acappella moment on multiple tracks including “River’s Still Running,” a bright and positive message that has taken on a new meaning during the coronavirus pandemic.

“‘It’s all right, ain’t worried about nothing,’” Brad said, quoting the song. “‘The sun came up, the river’s still running. It’s a good day to be here living.’ Like, man, that’s a very, very, very glass half full approach. And that is how we are. And that’s how we want to be, that’s how we’re known. But if there ever was a time that you need a little glass half full and the little positive attitude, it would be right now.” You can stream Grew Up On That here.