Kevin Morby’s last two albums, this year’s City Music and last year’s Singing Saw, were written concurrently and intended as companion pieces to each other. “Baltimore” is another song that he wrote during that same period, but he recorded two different versions of it — “Baltimore (Sky At Night)” during the Singing Saw sessions and “Baltimore (County Line)” during the City Music sessions. Although neither made it onto their respective albums, he’s now releasing both versions as a standalone single to benefit the Baltimore-based charity Believe In Music. Morby explains:

I love Baltimore. It is a city with a giant heart and has remained one of my favorite places to keep returning to on tour. It is unique and beautiful and you can’t mistake it for anywhere else in the world — Baltimore is one hundred percent Baltimore. All proceeds from both my and the label side will go to the Believe In Music education program, which provides “an innovative music education for Baltimore’s youth.” I do hope you enjoy both versions of the song and if you do decide to donate – thank you for contributing to what I believe to be a great cause.

I wrote “Baltimore” at the time I was conceiving both Singing Saw and City Music and recorded a version during both sessions with two different bands. I love the song dearly, but in the end thought that thematically it didn’t belong on either album, and thus have been waiting for this moment to release it as what it has always been meant to be — a single.

Listen below and purchase the single here.