Bruce Springsteen has released a video for his new single, “Hello Sunshine.” The track will appear on his forthcoming album, Western Stars.
Springsteen has explained that the new solo album features “character driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements.” And according to the singer-songwriter’s website, the new album contains a “sweeping range of American themes, of highways and desert spaces, of isolation and community and the permanence of home and hope.”
Earlier, Springsteen told Variety that this new record is influenced by 1970s pop music out of Southern California. He listed artists like Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Webb, and Glen Campbell. While one usually does not think of those artists in the same breath as Springsteen, one can hear the influence in the orchestration of the first single, “Hello Sunshine.”
In the new song, the singer asks, “Hello Sunshine won’t you stay?” And while the inquiry may remind one of Springsteen’s “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day,” the new song is not a rousing anthem. Instead, it is a contemplative piano-driven meditation of someone alone on the move. It could be the same subject as the voice in “Born to Run,” only older, slower, and maybe a little wiser.
Son Volt, let by Jay Farrar, tackle many of the issues of our current era with the new album, Union. The result is an admirable attempt to aim high and create important music with something to say.
One hears echos of past activists and the tradition of folk music’s commentary on the times. Clearly, Farrar was trying to connect with that history. The band recorded three of the album’s songs at the Mother Jones Museum in Illinois and recorded four songs at the Woody Guthrie Center in Oklahoma.
Sometimes the earnestness and the weight of trying to connect to Mary Harris (“Mother Jones”) and Guthrie seem to burden the music, with direct lyrics that do not leave much to the imagination. But the band’s playing is great, and Farrar’s voice is in great form. The often-changing cast of the band here includes Mark Spencer, Andrew DuPlantis, Chris Frame, and Mark Patterson. So even lyrics that seem too obvious — “Ninety-nine percent / It’s a trickle-down world” — still come in catchy songs that stick in your head. Other songs like “Lady Liberty” and “While Rome Burns” also land direct punches.
Connecting the Personal to the Universal
The songs that work best connect to personal moments or make you think in ways you may not have thought before. For example, the title track “Union,” recounts Farrar’s father’s belief about the need for something to bind the country together: “He said national service/ Will keep the union together.” Of course, many presidents have shared a similar belief, from Franklin D. Roosevelt to more recent presidents like George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
One of the more powerful songs on the album is “Reality Winner.” A listener may be excused if after an initial listen the chorus makes the person think the song is about the reality TV star as president (“What have you done, Reality Winner?”). But the song tells the story of an Air Force veteran named Reality Winner. She is now in prison for being a whistleblower to let Americans know the Russians affected the 2016 election. While not as epic as Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane,” another song about a prisoner, one may hope that the song helps draw more attention to Winner, who was sentenced to more than five years in prison.
Similarly, “The Symbol” uses a personal tale to make a larger point. Farrar sings in the voice of an undocumented immigrant who has been in the U.S. for ten years and had children in the country. Even though he helped rebuild New Orleans, the immigrant now hears people calling him a criminal.
Not every song is about politics. “Devil May Care” is about a barroom band. Farrar has noted he included the song as sort of a respite from some of the heavier themes on the album. Other less political songs include “Holding Your Own” and “The Reason.”
The band also took an old song and made it new. Activist Joe Hill wrote the lyrics to “Rebel Girl,” and the words were published in the early 1900s in the Little Red Songbook by the Industrial Workers of the World. Farrar added music to Hill’s words. In doing so, he created a wonderful merger of meaningful heartfelt lyrics with beautiful music, forming an instant classic, again connecting something personal and individual to something larger.
That’s the rebel girl, that’s the rebel girl; To the working class she’s a precious pearl; She brings courage and pride to the fighting rebel boy; I will fight for freedom with a rebel girl.
Conclusion
So, what to make of this album that has received mixed reviews ranging fromAmerican Songwriter hearing an “emotionless approach and . . . muted instrumentation” to American Highways finding “new political depth” in the album? Union is far from perfect, but there are near perfect moments. It is difficult for an artist to take on modern political issues while society is still working out those issues and their meaning. But here is a noble attempt. And we should all appreciate that Jay Farrar and Son Volt are using good music to try to tell us something.
What is your favorite song on Union? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Ashley McBryde is a rising country star who was recently recognized with a nomination from the ACM Awards. One of the highlights from her recent debut album Girl Going Nowhere (2018) is the title track (minus a “g”), “Girl Goin’ Nowhere.”
In the lyrics to the song, you hear the voice of someone who has had to deal with a lot of naysayers. She recalls people telling her she would “never be anything.” But then she sees the crowd and realizes she is doing pretty good for a “girl goin’ nowhere.”
I need to thank my daddy For that first set of strings; And all those folks who swore I’d never be anything; It took a whole lot of yes I wills and I don’t care, A whole lot of basement dives and county fairs, To this show right now and y’all sure look good out there; Not bad for a girl goin’ nowhere.
Below, McBryde performs “Girl Goin’ Nowhere” at the Grand Ole Opry. In this spare acoustic performance, you can hear a pin drop as McBryde mesmerizes the crowd.
The Arkansas-born Ashley McBryde sings like she knows the experience. She was born in 1983 and has had her ups and downs professionally, releasing some albums on her own in 2007 and 2011. She earned a bit of a break when Eric Church discovered her. But her talent has made her a rising star since the release of her well-reviewed debut release, Girl Going Nowhere in March 2018.
For one year in 1969, the band Blind Faith existed. After Eric Clapton had left Cream and Steve Winwood had left Traffic, the two formed a “super group” with drummer Ginger Baker and bass-player Ric Grech. They created one self-titled album and did one tour, and that was it. But during that time, they created some great music, including “Presence of the Lord.”
Clapton wrote “Presence of the Lord,” although Winwood handles lead vocals on the recording. The song conveys an image of one finding peace.
Everybody knows the secret, Everybody knows the score. I have finally found a place to live In the presence of the Lord.
Some have written about the spiritual and religious nature of the song. Others have noted that it may have been inspired by Clapton finding peace in his own life after finding a new place to live.
In the fascinating documentary, Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars (2017), Clapton explained that the song’s line “I have finally found a place to live” is about his love for Patty Boyd. At the time, she was married to his friend George Harrison, and Clapton’s feelings for her would inspire several songs. The anguish would be reflected a few years later in the Derek and the Dominos song, “Layla.” Clapton and Boyd married a decade later, but the marriage did not last.
Regardless of the true meaning behind the song, Clapton’s guitar playing and Winwood’s voice help take the song to a higher plane. Below, Blind Faith performs “Presence of the Lord” at the band’s first performance, live in London’s Hyde Park on June 7, 1969.
In October of that year, the band released a press release saying they had broken up.
Jason Ringenberg of Jason and the Scorchers has released a new solo album, Stand Tall. The album, which includes a tribute to the Ramones called “God Bless The Ramones,” reminds us that in these crazy times we need Ringenberg’s music now more than ever.
“God Bless The Ramones” has some basis in Ringenberg’s memory, as he once opened for the Ramones with Jason and the Scorchers in 1982. He recalls his band being bombarded during their set with all kinds of things thrown from the Texas crowd.
As for the Ramones, Ringenberg only has fond memories of how the band treated them, especially Dee Dee Ramone, who shared chicken wings, beer, and bass strings with the Scorchers. So it is no surprise that Ringenberg sings, “God Bless The Ramones.”
Ringenberg was inspired to write “God Bless the Ramones” while he stood at the base of a giant Sequoia tree named Charles Young after the first African-American commandant of the National Park Service. The connection to the tree and the National Park Service came out of where Ringenberg worked on his new crowd-funded solo album, Stand Tall.
The Album’s Inspiration
Ringenberg created much of the music on Stand Tall while serving as the Artist in Residence at Sequoia National Park for a month. As Ringenberg stated, “It was a life-changing experience. Any time you spend that much time in one of our great national parks, it’s gonna change you, no question about it.” And, according to Ringenberg, the songs soon followed: “It was such an inspiring experience to spend time in the presence of those magnificent giants and songs simply poured out of me.”
It has been awhile since Ringenberg recorded as himself or with the Scorchers. Much of his recent focus has been as an Emmy-winning educational recording artist for children called Farmer Jason. But Stand Tall, Ringenberg’s first solo album since 2004’s Empire Builders, helps re-establish him as one of the most fascinating Americana (or alt-country) artists.
The music on Stand Tall begins with an instrumental title track, which would fit well on an Ennio Morricone movie soundtrack. And then the album goes into “Lookin’ Black Blues,” a rousing swinging danceable Texas roadhouse song.
From there, songs feature John the Baptist (who apparently was a real humdinger), the Ramones, and naturalist John Muir. The music itself spans the country, punk, rock, folk, and even a little Irish dance music in the Civil War epic “I’m Walking Home.”
Ringenberg gathered a talented group of musicians for Stand Tall, including Fats Kaplin on violin and Steve Fishell on lap steel. Richard Bennett, who was a producer on three of Marty Brown‘s great albums, plays a few instruments on “John the Baptist Was a Real Humdinger.” And the band also includes Robert Bowlin, who played fiddle for Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys for several years in the 1990s. If you are unfamiliar with Ringenberg’s music or that of Jason and the Scorchers, listen to a few songs and you will most likely find yourself soon singing and dancing along, entranced by the band and Ringenberg’s voice.
Ringenberg has a unique singing voice, reminding one somewhat of the tenor of the great Jimmie Dale Gilmore (and at the funniest points, a little reminiscent of Weird Al Yankovic). Looking further in the past, you might see a connection between Ringenberg’s voice to The Singing Brakeman Jimmy Rodgers, the yodeling “Father of Country Music.” So, it is a delight that Ringenberg covers Rodgers’ song about a dying hobo, “Hobo Bill’s Last Ride.” The song is one of my favorite tracks on Stand Tall, complete with some yodeling from Ringenberg.
Ringenberg’s experience at Sequoia National Park clearly influenced many of the tracks on the album, such as “Here in the Sequoias” and “John Muir Stood Here” (written in a spot where Muir did indeed stand). But even in the songs without a subject matter directly related to the national parks, the greatness of the big tress and the land reverberates through the inspiration they gave to Ringenberg, seeking something deeper about the this land and this country.
“Farewell Angelina”
Ringenberg ends the album with Bob Dylan’s song “Farewell Angelina,” most famous in Joan Baez’s recording. At first blush, one might think it an odd choice for an album inspired by the singer’s time in the woods. Instead, it is a perfect summary of the album.
Ringenberg used to perform the obscure Dylan song back when he was in college. Here, I do not know Ringenberg’s intent in ending this album with the song. But in Robert Bowlin’s haunting cello work and in the final verse of “Farewell Angelina,” I hear a little of the singer trying to avoid garbage being thrown at him as he opens for the Ramones. And even more, I hear a man seeking peace and joy in a troubled world, whether by taking a break as a children’s entertainer, or by contemplating the woods beneath giant trees, or by returning to the music he loves.
The machine guns are roaring, and the puppets heave rocks; Fiends nail time bombs to the hands of the clocks; Call me any name you like, I will never deny it; But farewell, Angelina, the sky is erupting, I must go where it’s quiet.
God Bless Jason Ringenberg.
What is your favorite Jason Ringenberg song? Leave your two cents in the comments. Photo via Gregg Roth.
