Singer-songwriter Adia Victoria added to the lists of wonderful songs about the weather when she released “Horrible Weather” on her 2016 debut album Beyond the Bloodhounds. Of course, like most songs referencing the weather, there is something else going on besides what is up in the sky.
In the song, Victoria sings about trouble coming her way. And that trouble is not really in the form of clouds, but in the form of a relationship.
Well the rain don’t fall, sun don’t shine; At least your black thunder cloud is the same as mine; It’s the horrible weather that ties me together to you.
Adia Victoria was born in South Carolina and currently records in Nashville. In 2019, she released the album Silences.
Lazer Lloyd is releasing a new single “The Simple Life.” The laid-back acoustic song is a breath of fresh air in our complicated world.
In the song, Lloyd sings about trying “to embrace the miracles of creation” over the distractions of mass commercialism (“keep me away from all the screens and telephones”). Like the title, the lyrics present a simple message, but a worthwhile message in these crazy days.
On singer-songwriter Lazer Lloyd’s website, he writes that he wants us to “ask ourselves what are really the important things in life. Because we are going to be inundated with so many things the world is going to convince us we need.” And he explains that the song asks us to “go back to keeping it simple which is family and friends, building our spirituality, physical health, our mental health and being balanced. Enjoying life, being in the moment and not getting carried away with the material world.”
We occasionally hear a similar message in other great songs. For example, the Shakers (and American composer Aaron Copeland) used “Simple Gifts” about the gift to be simple. In the 1970s, Dion beautifully sang about finding a “Sanctuary” in difficult times. More recently, Passenger warned us we needed to get away from our computers to “Scare Away the Dark.”
What the songs have in common is that the truth of the message is wrapped in memorable music too. And here, in addition to the important message, what makes “The Simple Life” work is Lloyd’s deep voice and the acoustic arrangement of a catchy tune.
All together Lloyd’s song is a “simple” but delightful contribution (and reminder) as we wonder through these modern times. Take a deep breath and let the song and Lloyd’s refrain wash over your troubles.
Lazer Lloyd, who has been described as “Israel’s hassidic blues rocker [who] reaches for the American heartland,” is releasing the single and official video for “The Simple Life” on March 6, 2020. The song will appear on Lloyd’s upcoming album, Tomorrow Never Comes. We will post the official video after it is released, but for a preview of the song, here is Lloyd performing the song.
Although born and raised in the United States, Lazer Lloyd moved to Israel in 1994 as a young man to continue his music career. Having played blues and rock, he became intrigued by similarities between the music he played and traditional Jewish music. Lloyd currently records music in a range of styles, including Americana, and AllMusic refers to him as “one of the best-known blues musicians in Israel.” Whatever you call it, the singer-songwriter makes great music.
Having played and recorded with several bands, Lazer Lloyd now records as a solo artist. One of my favorite tracks off his 2017 album Freedom’s Child is “Been Tryin’.”
Lloyd has a deep, soulful voice. In the video below, with just him and a guitar, the ache in the lyrics comes through.
Lloyd explains about the song, “There are no quick fixes not with our bodies nor our soul. That which comes in a flash can leave just as quickly. I don’t remember what I did wrong before writing this song. Maybe best to let it go.”
“Been Tryin” below was recorded in Kernersville, NC at JBS Productions.
Check out Lazer Lloyd’s latest release, a live album called Lazer Lloyd in the Zone. The album features some wonderful blues and rock songs, as well as powerful live covers of classics such as “All Along the Watchtower,” “Redemption Song,” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” The album released on Bandcamp on December 31, 2019, with a worldwide streaming release on January 20, 2020. Check it out.
Childhood friends Evan Westfall and Taylor Meier began playing coffee houses around Athens, Ohio in 2013. Out of their friendship and talent, they formed CAAMP with bass player Matt Vinson. One of the highlights from the band’s third album By and By, which was released in 2019, is “Peach Fuzz.”
“Peach Fuzz” has a laid-back groove, telling about young lovers hanging out. The band has a wonderful sound with strong acoustic guitars, nodding at times to alternative bands like Wilco. Westfall’s banjo and the group’s harmonies (and Meier’s smoky lead singing) add a dash of Mumford & Sons while also mixing in some sunny California and Midwestern folk-rock sounds.
The song “Peach Fuzz” begins:
I was in the corner, Drinking from the punch; Yeah you were in the kitchen, Cuttin’ up a rug; No need to complicate it, I had fallen in love With you, so underrated, Something fillin’ up my lungs.
You may here the official release of “Peach Fuzz” here. Or check out below a live performance, featuring a guitar-jam finale, of CAAMP in Cecil, Denmark in May 2019.
Our song of the day features Merle Haggard covering an Iris DeMent song that appeared on one of his overlooked albums from the 1990s. In “No Time to Cry,” the singer begins by remembering his father’s funeral from a year before, moving into a meditation on live, it’s joys and it’s pains.
When I first heard Haggard’s version from his album 1996, I though he might have wrote it or that it had been written for him. The song perfectly fits his weathered voice at the time of an older person. Although Merle Haggard was only in his late 50’s when he recorded “No Time to Cry,” he always seemed much older than his age.
The singer looks back through the years, realizing life is full of pain. But in the end, you cannot stop the pain or cry for everyone.
Now I sit down on the sofa and I watch the evening news: There’s a half a dozen tragedies from which to pick and choose; The baby that was missing was found in a ditch today; And there’s bombs a’flying and people dying not so far away; And I’ll take a beer from the refrigerator, And go sit out in the yard and with a cold one in my hand; I’m going to bite down and swallow hard, Because I’m older now: I’ve got no time to cry.
Iris DeMent’s Version
In Haggard’s version, he sounds weary. He sounds hardened by what he has seen. By contrast, in Iris DeMent‘s original version from her album My Life (1993), her haunting voice sounds like someone barely able to keep from crying. Her version reveals the raw emotions nearer to the surface than the old man in Haggard’s version. She takes longer
Listen to just the way Haggard adds “it’s true” near the end at around the 3:45 mark. It is as if the singer is reminding himself that he cannot cry. DeMent’s version does not add that declaration, perhaps because the singer does not quite believe it is true.
DeMent’s recording clocks in at nearly seven minutes, while Haggard’s song takes just four and a half minutes. He is making a declaration, telling you his story, while DeMent takes longer because she is trying to convince herself of her strength in the wake of everything. Both versions are wonderful. Here is DeMent’s take on her song “No Time to Cry.”
Haggard’s choice to cover the song reveals his great taste in music that fits him. But he also admired DeMent’s work, having earlier praised DeMent’s version of his song “Big City” on the Haggard tribute album, Tulare Dust.
Which version of “No Time to Cry” do you like best? Leave your two cents in the comments.
