Innovative banjo player Gina Furtado launched her new band, The Gina Furtado Project, with one goal in mind: Sharing her own artistic voice with deeply personal songs about living life, swallowing pride and respecting others’ journeys. On I Hope You Have A Good Life, her second album from Mountain Home Music Company, Furtado shows she has invaluable awareness of the world around her — and of herself — with songwriting that’s metaphorical yet literal, whimsical yet sensible.
“To me, the most influential perk to playing music for a living has been the opportunity to get to know and work alongside many profoundly creative and fearless human beings. The way I see it, their individuality makes the world a more vibrant and happier place to be,” says Furtado. “I have something of my own to share (as we all do!).”
Working with guitarist Chris Luquette — a holdover from Furtado’s 2017 debut, True Colors — alongside Nate Leath (fiddle), Danny Knicely (mandolin) and bassist Mark Fain to record the album, Furtado paints with another broad musical palette on the new release. There’s straight ahead bluegrass drive on numbers like “Shame” and “Princess And The Pea,” but there’s a dazzling array of other textures, too, like the spare banjo-and-vocal of “Story Of An Artist,” the raucous funk of “Can You Picture That” and the tropical syncopation of “Take Your Time.” Each song is crafted with insightful originality, perfectly yet creatively matching words with musical moods.
The album begins with the first single, “First Pebble,” which Furtado describes as the most personal on the album. “This one was born soon after my marriage fell apart and I looked around to find I was surviving, and in fact thriving, when I thought that would not be the case,” says Furtado. “Ending is just another word for beginning!”