Friends,
Today I’m releasing my first recorded song in four years. I want to share that with you and give a little insight into the creation of the song. But first I want to take a moment to address what I think this substack may be all about. I first conceived of the site as a place where I could post the working-class political essays that I can’t seem to get placed anywhere else (and I have a good one coming next month), but then I find myself posting theater reviews, and essays on music, now I’m sharing a song I recorded. It may seem a little slapdash.
For me, though, it all falls under the umbrella of craft. I have a love of craft and of craftsmenship and of those who practice it. As a writer and a worker, a singer and a teller of stories, I want to celebrate this love. I think of myself as working-class, but not only in an economic or political way, but in a broader sense. I am a worker and I love the workers. Musicians, actors, body workers, healers, construction workers, nurses, gardeners, oil field hands, sex workers, factory workers, storytellers, these people all use their bodies and their voices to create or to mend. I feel a part of them, and I want to tell their stories.
In this era where nobody seems able to stop obsessing and freaking out about politics, I think we need to celebrate the arts. In my experience, they do a lot more to bring people together, to excite people, to heal people, and to change people’s perspectives than political screeds. That doesn’t mean you’ll like my song, but there’s no accounting for taste.
Links to HEROES on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and more are here.
In a few weeks, I’ll hit you all with the above promised political essay. A month after that I may do a brief history of the cultivation of white pine on American soil—it is weirdly fascinating. I’m also going to be releasing music all year. I’ve got a dozen new songs, so I’m going to do about one a month . This substack, I believe, is going to go about like that.
If you like what you read and what you hear, please consider paying for your subscription or sharing this with a friend. The more revenue I can generate, the more time I’ll be able to put into this. It really does help. Also, thanks to those who have emailed me. I love continuing the conversation with y’all.
Now, onto HEROES:
Getting out of highschool I saw so many guys lose their shit it seemed like the sky was falling. Something happens when you’re in your late teens and early twenties. People start peeling off. Bad things happen. Car crashes, psychotic breaks, sudden strange illnesses. It never goes away, of course, the living and the dying, but it feels especially acute at that time—the time in which I used to think this song took place. Now I’m not sure, as time grinds on I meet more heroes all the time, and most of them never make it, exactly. We all have our moments, though. I think this song is one of those moments for one of those heroes, a moment of rebellion against the ideas of what makes a good or a big or an important life.
The sound of HEROES is one I’ve pursued for some time with mixed results. I get about as close to the sound here as I have ever gotten, though. For lack of a better term, I’ll call it City/Country music. It’s a mashup of the things I love in country music, the fiddles and banjos, and the things I love about the more city-oriented rock bands that I love. In this tune, that’d be howling electric guitars and punk rock backing vocals. It’s a mash up that I hope catches the ear.
This was recorded at The Lexington Recording Studio in Lexington, KY. (I’m currently writing this from the apartment above the studio). It was produced and mixed by Duane Lundy. Lyrics and album credits are below. Enjoy!
HEROES
My heroes are the ones who never made it
They were knocked down and hauled out before they made a name
Never made the grade in highschool either
They were skipping class with the girls all the boys had stories about
It’s alright I was kissed by a girl one time
I was too young I didn’t even know how to drive
It’s alright I get dismissed by women all the time
I’m too strung out and often I cross the line
When we were younger we would run but never away
Now we’re getting older, we’re running still like we’re getting paid
When we were dumber I would tell you things I don’t know how
Now I’m getting smarter bite my tongue wouldn’t say that now
Go ahead erect a statue for a general
You can take that little man fit him in a magazine
I don’t care what your cousins are watching
I just wanna be okay with every breath I breathe
It’s alright I was kissed by a girl one time
I was too young I didn’t even know how to lie
It’s alright I get dismissed by women all the time
I’m too strung out and often I cross the line
When I was smaller you could hold me in the palm of your hand
Now I’m getting bigger get away from me I’m trying to stand
When we were lovers I was sky you were the earth
Now we’re under cover million dollars whats it worth?
It’s alright I was kissed by a girl one time
Album credits:
MPFS: vox and acoustic guitar
J. Tom Hnatow: electric guitar and bass
Robby Cosenza: drums
Maggie Lander: fiddle
Lee Carroll: keys
Tripp Bratton: percussion
Abby Mott: backing vox