Press release –
Dartmouth, NS-based songwriter Andrew Shaver, the artist behind the project Clever Hopes, returns with a heartfelt new single, “Long Way Round,” a moving collaboration with Newfoundland singer-
Written during a visit to St. John’s, the song explores vulnerability, faith, and the complicated hope that people can grow and change within relationships. Built as a duet, “Long Way Round” gives voice to both sides of a fragile moment: the person asking for time and the person deciding whether to give it.
“I wrote ‘Long Way Round’ in St. John’s, thinking about a friend back in Halifax who was struggling in a relationship,” Shaver explains. “But also, struggling more generally with those universally shared feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. He had made a big, vulnerable gesture to try to win someone back and was now stuck wondering if he’d made the right decision or if he’d somehow lost the plot. It got me thinking about moments in my life when I’d asked for the very same thing: the time and the space to grow into the person I said I was or, rather, who I’d hoped to become. That takes a lot of faith on both sides. It’s one thing to promise change. It’s another thing entirely for someone to give you the chance to prove it.”
Shaver says he knew early on that the song needed to be a duet.
“I wanted to give both sides a voice. I was so thrilled that St. John’s songwriter Kelly McMichael agreed to join me on the tune. When Kelly takes the second verse alone, the perspective shifts. It’s no longer just about the person reaching; we hear from the person being asked to wait. By the final stanza, when the arrangement drops to just acoustic guitar and piano, the song isn’t claiming victory. It’s simply holding space for the possibility that something fragile might still be alive.”
Musically, “Long Way Round” reflects that delicate balance. The track was recorded during a three-day session at producer Daniel Ledwell’s studio in Lake Echo, Nova Scotia, with an all-star group of East Coast musicians, including Afie Jurvanen (Bahamas), Kyle Cunjak on bass, and Joshua Van Tassel on drums.
“I spent three days laying down tracks with Danny, Afie, Kyle and Josh,” says Shaver. “We actually recorded two versions of this one. The one we’re releasing was the second kick at the can. The first came out of the gates loud and electric. It leaned into winter. It surprised me, and I liked that. It was the last tune we laid down on day one. I slept on it for a couple of days and ultimately decided to strip it back and mellow it out. The last thing we did as a group in this session was record this version. I’m really glad we did.”
The resulting track features what Shaver calls a “dreamy rhythm section,” with Ledwell also contributing piano, acoustic guitar, French horn, and production. Shaver recorded his acoustic guitar tucked behind a half-closed sliding glass door in the studio, while McMichael later added her vocals, completing the emotional dialogue at the heart of the song.
“Long Way Round (ft. Kelly McMichael)” Single Credits
WRITTEN BY: Andrew Shaver
PRODUCED AND MIXED BY: Daniel Ledwell
MASTERED BY: Heather Kirby
MUSICIANS:
Andrew Shaver – lead vocals and acoustic guitar
Kelly McMichael – lead and background vocals
Afie Jurvanen – electric guitar
Daniel Ledwell – acoustic guitar, piano, French horn
Kyle Cunjak – bass
Joshua Van Tassel – drums
