Enrich

Music for Your Heart

MNU-ICONS-ENRICH

 

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Photo credit: www.jaygilbert.net

 

 

Maybe you are unattached or have a broken heart (so sorry!). Or maybe you are single and fine with it. You might be married, coupled or otherwise engaged. Whatever your situation, we’ve got the tunes to tug at those heart strings.  This month, we are excited to have guest contributor Fount Lynch as our Music Editor.  Fount has a deep background in Americana music (he’s a pro), and he graciously shared with us his choices for the lovesick and lovelorn.  Take it away, Mr. DJ!

 

First, let me say Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you. Even though this holiday was created by the greeting card companies, it’s best to just accept the fact that we all actually really do love this day. Be honest, you know you do. Even if there are not any flowers in your future or big dinner plans, it’s nice to walk up to someone you know and/or care about, give them a hug and tell them “Happy INSERT fount1WHATEVER DAY IT IS.” 

My name is Fount Lynch. I work in the country music industry. My New Usual™ asked me to put together a playlist of country-ish songs to commemorate this holiday. Naturally I chose love songs, but don’t be fooled. These songs aren’t just any random love songs out there. In the interest of being as narcissistic as possible these are songs that I have in my “I love my wife and sometimes I need to listen to songs to express my feelings” playlist on my iPod.

You good people get to hear 14 of ‘em. It’s 2014 after all and I feel like 14 country-ish love songs would make a nice list. You can either just listen to them or even better, take a moment and read something about each one before you do. I’ve made comments on all of them.

Sometimes having the right setting before hearing a new song helps the mind connect with the ears.


lonebellow“Tree To Grow” – The Lone Bellow

This band burst on the scene in early 2013 on the heels of the success of indie folk band, The Lumineers….which almost doesn’t give The Lone Bellow enough credit. I think the world would’ve known The Lone Bellow with or without The Lumineers’ success, but sometimes it takes a large force to open up the world’s eyes to other bands that may have been unseen on the fringe. The Lone Bellow is that band. I’m a sucker for layered harmonies and there are plenty here, although make no mistake, the writing is great if not brilliant at times.


avetts“Swept Away (Sentimental Version)” – The Avett Brothers

One of Americana’s darling’s, The Avett Brothers, have such an extensive catalogue that I urge you to dig deep and hear what this band can offer. On this album, Mignonette, there are two versions of this song; one “sentimental” and one not. Obviously, the sentimental version makes a better love song for this list. If you’ve ever met someone that you just know you’re going to fall for, that moment you give yourself permission to acknowledge that fact, you get swept away. That’s why I chose this song. Knowing you’ve been swept away by another person is a special and honest feeling. Sentimental indeed.

chathamcountyline“Chip Of A Star” – Chatham County Line

I find that the older I get, the more I love Bluegrass. I’m from rural Tennessee. Bluegrass was the music that raised me. At some point, I guess when I deemed it uncool, I stopped listening to it. Now, I listen to it when I can. I’ve found that it calms me down when I feel out of control. It grounds me. This song does EXACTLY that. It’s calming. It’s warming, actually. Reminds me of the one I love.

 

jakeowen“Anywhere With You” – Jake Owen

I loved this song the second I heard it. Extremely catchy. Great melody. The kick drum plays great on my stereo (hey, it’s the small things).  I love when Jake says “have you ever seen California” and the melody of that phrasing. He’s not re-inventing the wheel here, but the song is strong enough that he doesn’t have to invent anything to make the listener like it. 


jayhawks“All The Right Reasons” – The Jayhawks

Easily one of the most beautiful love songs by a band that I bet most reading this have not heard of. At one time they held the record of the longest running “Alt-country” band, but they broke up and then sort of got back together so I don’t know if they still hold that title….even if it matters or not.

Gary Louris, the lead singer on this album, has a tenor voice that, for lack of a better term, is lovely. If I had to name just ONE love song, this song is it!

joshturner2“In My Dreams” – Josh Turner

The first time I heard this “In My Dreams,” Josh was performing it on a local TV station in Nashville. I was 23 years old, dating my future wife and the thought of children and settling down was far from my mind. However, when I heard this song, something inside me found a sense of familiarity about it. Looking back now (having a wife, daughter and child on the way), I can say now that the familiarity I felt was really what my heart wanted for the future “me.”

 

driveby“Love Like This” – Drive-By Truckers

The Drive-By Truckers are one of, if not THE band that I love most. I’ll be upfront, they’re not for everyone. Their music is raw, but it’s honest! It can be tough, but it’s real. I feel like when I hear either Mike Cooley or Patterson Hood sing (the band has two leads), it could be any of the men down the road from where I grew up. I feel like their words are those that I could’ve heard at the country church where I attended every Sunday morning when I was 12.

I’ve always thought “Love Like This” could be cut as a contemporary country song and it would be an instant classic for a new artist. This song isn’t your typical love song. It’s about a man who can’t wait to get home to see his woman. He picks up a bottle of whiskey on the drive. Once home, he realizes that the “thought” of being home is quite different than being there.

“Last night I slept with my boots on again, one cut on my forehead,

one on my chin, on the hard old floor with nothing to cover up with.

You got me real good girl, and I must admit you pack a pretty mean

punch for such a pretty little b***h  and it’s a shame to know most

folks won’t ever know love like this.”

 
Who says all love songs have to be the same?

 

kipmoore“Hey Pretty Girl” – Kip Moore

A heartfelt love song is not what comes to mind when you see Kip Moore live. He’s a roughneck, Springsteen-ish, edgy country artist and gifted songwriter. I gotta believe that when Kip wrote this song, he knew it was instant gold. Not so much for himself since he’s not married nor does he have children, but he knew it was going to be successful because of those that would eventually hear it and connect the dots back to their own lives. I know I did.

 

damien“The Blower’s Daughter” – Damien Rice

The starkness of this song is what makes it brilliant. The Irish singer/songwriter, Damien Rice, nails pure emotion on this song….and really every song that was on his beloved album simply titled O. I’m sure this song has been used in weddings much like Ben Folds’ “The Luckiest,” but that doesn’t water down the beauty of it nor the emotion that listener can take from it when Damien says “I can’t take my eyes off of you” in the chorus then follows that up in the last verse “I can’t take my mind off of you.”

 

raylm

“You Are the Best Thing” – Ray LaMontagne

This song was released in the wrong decade. At the moment it starts you immediately feel the retro sound, with a big horn section. Obviously, the production screams of the current era, but I like how old it feels. I love how the horns harmonize.  Just the thought of expressing to someone that “you are the best thing that ever happened to me” could cause immediate anxiety. Why is that? Why is it hard to tell someone that actually IS the best thing to happen to you that they are? We, as humans, are funny and weird creatures.

 


ryanadams“Desire” – Ryan Adams

At one time Ryan Adams was the IT artist. Just drop his name in a music conversation and boom, you had instant cred. He married Mandy Moore and for what it seems, he’s happy. Way back when though, Ryan crafted music that was in the “misery loves company” category. This song was off an album called Demolition, a record that was a collection of demos that Adams had recorded on his own. “Desire” is a song that could go either way; a person desiring their lover or a lover desiring what they lost. Whichever it is, it’s a great song….and if you’re in the “loving a lover” category then this song can speak to you.

 

melissam“Taxi Ride” – Melissa McClelland

This cabaret-ish song is one that grabbed me the first time I saw Melissa play it years ago in Austin, TX during the annual music conference South-By-Southwest. I love this artist! She’s a singer/songwriter from our friends in the north, Canada. The last line of the hook says “I don’t love anyone but you. This is the only lie that’s true. And I’m telling it to you.” This song appears on her album, Thumbelina’s One Night Stand, which is a dandy of a record. I never pass up an opportunity to see Melissa play. “Taxi Ride” is one of the gems that keep bringing me back.

 

hayescarll“Willing To Love Again” – Hayes Carll

The first verse of this song will make you smile, but unlike many of Hayes’ other songs, it’s not meant to make you smile. The self-deprecating first verse is just one of many moments when Hayes shares his honest sincerity. This is a song about a man not understanding why in the world his woman loves him. HIM? I know I’ve felt this way before. How in the world can my wife love me. ME? This line in the song is so honest that it makes me shudder to think of actually admitting to myself that I feel that way.

“Out of all the dreams in this whole world, how’d you get so unlucky girl. To find a shell, that had no pearl, and a man who couldn’t find home. I feel too much, I protect too much and most times I probably expect too much. I spend my life and on this broken crutch and you believe I can fly.”

 Luckily I don’t have to. Hayes Carll does it for me.

 

kinggeorge“It Just Comes Natural” – George Strait

I was in Katy, TX (outside of Houston) for a country artist named Easton Corbin who was performing at the rodeo there. Easton has a very traditional country sound and he gets compared to George Strait quite often. At this particular show, Easton performed George Strait’s “It Just Comes Natural” during his encore. Naturally, being in Texas, the place erupted. At the time my wife was pregnant with my daughter and even though I was familiar with George Strait’s version of this song, I knew there in that moment, I would always connect this song with those that I love…..it just comes natural.

 

Be sure to check out all of these fine tunes, and thanks Fount for so many great songs to love!