The National Parks were one of my favorite discoveries of 2014. Its not just because of my love of the great outdoors and the first song I heard had the Great Tetons in the chorus but because they make great music! And no not all their songs are about National Parks. Although I’m sure if they wrote songs for Yellowstone, The Grand Canyon, and Glacier they would be just as beautiful and catchy as “As We Ran”. It’s fitting this song would be about the Great Tetons. An often overlooked National Park because of its famous Neighbor to the north (Old Man Yellowstone) the Grand Tetons provide breath taking scenery without the crowds. The National Parks / Breathtaking Music / Without The Crowds (For now)
Been listening to this album a lot lately. It makes me want to drink heavily and put my head down on the bar which is a high compliment for a country album. I would love to see Miss Rebel at a dusty smokey cowboy bar out west while sipping whiskey out of an old glass. But for now I’ll listen to this album. My favorite track would be “Toast”
“Spent his days in a bar room haze/ With ex lover and thieves/ Broken down old cowboys/ Forgotten beauty queens/ Cigarette smoke stains the walls/ That old jukebox plays the same sad song ”
“Your The Devil” “Money On Booze” “Alone Ain’t A Bad Place” & “It Couldn’t Hurt” are the other standout tracks but the whole album is a great listen straight through. Bandcamp link is below. Give a listen and let me know what you think!
There is still great country music out there. You just need to look a little harder to find it since you likely won’t hear it on country radio with the influx of “Bro Country” out right now. So if you dislike Luke Bryan I think you might dig this. From the Pacific NW to your ears here is Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers.
PS If you don’t have time to look for new music follow my blog!
I have listened to Phosphorescent for a while now and saw him live at Lincoln Hall in Chicago a few years back so when I heard “Song For Zula” in 2013 off his album Muchacho it was immediately in high rotation on my iTunes. Songs can’t stay in high rotation forever so when I heard a familiar song while drinking an Export Gold at the Blue Pub in the sleepy summer town of Methven, New Zealand this past week it grabbed my attention. At first I couldn’t make out the song since it was a cover but as I listened to the lyrics (below) and searched my memory when I heard the line “And we race out on the desert plains all night” it clicked that I was listening to a cover of “Song For Zula”. Not only was it a cover but a great one with elements that I am a real sucker for like steel guitar and harmonizing! I immediately grabbed my phone to Shazam it but then realized I didn’t have internet and couldn’t get the wifi from the bartender in time to use the App. So I had to go old school and write a note in my phone to search for the song later. Once I had internet I did a search on Spotify and sure enough I came across “Song For Zula” by Ronnie Fauss. Now that I am back in windy, snowy, and cold Chicago I keep listening to the Ronnie Fauss version and it takes me back to summer 4 days ago in New Zealand and our amazing trip. I love it when music can provide the soundtrack for happy moments in life.
“Some say love is a burning thing
That it makes a fiery ring
Oh but I know love as a fading thing
Just as fickle as a feather in a stream
See, honey, I saw love. You see, it came to me
It put its face up to my face so I could see
Yeah then I saw love disfigure me
Into something I am not recognizing
See, the cage, it called. I said, “Come on in”
I will not open myself up this way again
Nor lay my face to the soil, nor my teeth to the sand
I will not lay like this for days now upon end
You will not see me fall, nor see me struggle to stand
To be acknowledge by some touch from his gnarled hands
You see, the cage, it called. I said, “Come on in”
I will not open myself up this way again
You see, the moon is bright in that treetop night
I see the shadows that we cast in the cold, clean light
My feet are gold. My heart is white
And we race out on the desert plains all night
See, honey, I am not some broken thing
I do not lay here in the dark waiting for thee
No my heart is gold. My feet are light
And I am racing out on the desert plains all night
So some say love is a burning thing
That it makes a fiery ring
Oh but I know love as a caging thing
Just a killer come to call from some awful dream
O and all you folks, you come to see
You just stand there in the glass looking at me
But my heart is wild. And my bones are steam
And I could kill you with my bare hands if I was free”
Phosphorescent Verison
Ronnie Fauss Version
Hard to pick a favorite here so I will just continue to enjoy both.
drinkplentyofwater 