Here's the 3rd and last (for now) volume of my "Lost & Found" archive series. Swan goes country. Truth be told, I've always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with country music, being from the South and all. Growing up I mostly hated it and associated it with "rednecks" that lived in the, well, country. I remember laughing incredulously when my guitar teacher said that eventually I'd develop a taste for all kinds of music, even country. But then, some time in my late teens or so, it slowly started to happen...

I think Southern rock was my gateway drug. Like the British rock bands led me to the blues, southern bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band led me to some classic country artists. Although I'm told I liked Randy Travis as a kid, the first country artist I really remember responding to as an "almost adult" was Merle Haggard. To this day he remains probably my favorite country artist overall. Then I bought a tape (yes a tape) of Hank Jr's Greatest Hits because I had to learn "Family Tradition" for a party. I found most of the songs hilarious. Indeed, humor is something I associate with most of the best country music I love. From there I went of course to Hank Sr, one of the most important artists of the 20th century, imo. Eventually I got to George Jones, Johnny Cash, Willie, Waylon and the rest. Later I got really into Texas songwriters like Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Billy Joe Shaver, Blaze Foley, and Kris Kristofferson. I found I still liked Randy Travis, too. And of course, as a Tennessean I always loved Dolly, as well as Loretta, Emmylou and Patsy.

I suppose I'm a bit of a contrarian, because for the most part my love of country music blossomed in New York City, a town which is a punchline for most country songs. I even had a country band up there for a while - The Lost Highwaymen. (Check my other release on here, "The Lost Highwayman," for a taste of that band). I guess living up north made me get in touch more with my "roots." I do have some Scots-Irish heritage, which is a big part of the history of country music. So I guess it's no surprise that I eventually decided to move to Nashville.

Once in Music City, I tried to get involved in the songwriting scene as well as picking up lead guitar gigs on Broadway. I wrote some new songs, and generally enjoyed being able to play a lot more than I was in NYC. I loved listening to the legendary WSM 650 AM with Eddie Stubbs. I played most of the classic clubs on Broadway, and eventually played quite a bit on the road, as well. Most of this was with other country singers. My own music kind of took a backseat, which was fine for a while, because I was still playing guitar and making money doing it, as well as getting to travel the country.

Eventually, however, I found I had my fill with the Nashville scene. The kind of country music that dominates the mainstream airwaves has very little in common with the kinds of songs I was writing, country or otherwise. These same insipid tunes were also largely what I was playing as a guitarist backing up other singers. While it's cool to play music that is current and people want to hear, it just wasn't my thing. It also didn't really give me a chance to show my strengths as a musician, which to me involves a good deal of improvisation, and more subtlety than is typically found at a bar gig.

Then, of course, COVID happened. My last gig was at a country bar in Chicago on St. Patrick Day's weekend. I haven't played live since. Once fully vaccinated, I hope to return to the stage, but I don't plan on playing much country music, at least not that kind. If this time has shown me anything, it's that we have to focus on the things we believe in. I still love classic country music that has truth and soul, but I don't identify at all with what is being labeled "country" today. And I don't want to be a part of it, even at a smaller level. I believe I have more to offer, and hopefully I'll be able to show that soon.

All that being said, these are 10 country songs I've written over the years, some in NYC, some in Nashville, and some in Knoxville. Taken together, they should give a pretty good indication of my "style" of country music. Most of these are simple guitar/vocal demos, while the first and last tunes have more of a fleshed out arrangement. I decided to keep them that way, because in country music the song should hold up by itself.

Tracks

1. A Lot More Country - This is probably the closest I got to writing a "bro country" song, at least closer to the Jason Aldean style of bro stuff. It's also kind of a parody of that style, though I still enjoy it. Despite the lyrics, I'm definitely not a lot more country than most people, though with my accent many folks in NYC thought I was.

2. Best Foot Forward - This was part of a batch of tunes I wrote when I moved back to TN. It's a humorous story of how we sometimes keep things to ourselves when first meeting someone new.

3. Hey there, Darlin - I put a live, full band version of this one on "The Lost Highwayman" album, but I thought I'd put up an acoustic version here because the lyrics can be tough to decipher in the other one. This is sort of the Southern "Don Juan" character I imagined I was once intoxicated in the bars of NYC.

4. Miles Between - One of my friends asked me to write a song with this title about the distance between NYC and TN. I did, and here it is.

5. Knoxville Boy - Another "Back to TN" tune, with an obvious nod to "Knoxville Girl" by the Outlaws. Like most of these songs, it's pretty tongue-in-cheek. And my niece Sydney is definitely no longer two.

6. My Old Neighborhood - From the same batch of "Best Foot Forward" and "Knoxville Boy" that I wrote when I first moved back. The inspiration is pretty obvious.

7. When Dolly Sings - This is a song I wrote with my friend Craig Wilson, who also moved from NYC to Nashville shortly after me. It's about being homesick in a Nashville bar for the hills of East TN, and hearing the voice of its most famous resident. I definitely went through this, though moreso in NYC.

8. When the Truth Comes Out - This one is more Americana, with a definite Jason Isbell influence. Still, I like it, and think it still holds up.

9. An Old Country Song - This is the oldest song on this album, and one of the first country songs I ever wrote. I wrote it even before college, but this recording is from my apt in NYC. It's a story song, and a sad one, but hey that's part of country music.

10. Tell it Like it Is - Another one I wrote in NYC, when I was feeling especially opinionated, apparently. Not sure I would write a song like this today, as the digs at Elvis Costello and John Mayer seem kinda gratuitous, but then again it's still true...

So that's it! It feels good to get all this stuff out into the world, even if not many people will hear it. Sometimes you just gotta put it all out there and see what happens. At least that's what I think I heard somewhere in a country song...