Sentimental jams

I've been writing my new record all summer, whenever I find some time in between all the other stuff I've been up to.
I'm about 6 tunes in. Songs don't ever come to me quickly. Or sometimes the bulk of a tune will come in a day, but it might be another week or two on polishing up the words. Either way, I know it'll be a couple months before I've got the whole thing written, but I'm hopefully going to be recording throughout the whole writing process to try to speed things up.

Now that gets me around to this. I have a real and legitimate love for soft and sentimental songs from the 70's. There's just something about that sound that really moves me. And not because of some lame ironic reason, but because I really do love old Paul Davis jams, and the songs of David Gates. I've been listening to a lot of James Taylor, Paul Simon, and Harry Neilson, as well as lesser known folksters from the era, like Maury Muehleisen, and a duo called Lambert and Nuttycomb.


What is it about that sound that really speaks to me? Well I can tell you a few things for sure. The unabashed way in which they all seem to deliver the most earnest words. To me, it's takes a lot more courage to sing that kind of stuff than anything else, and I find that admirable. Also, the vocal style is always really soft and present, almost like they're just talking to you. I find it comforting. And in cases where there's orchestration, it's always impossibly beautiful, and sits so perfectly with the simple guitar arrangements. So those points I can say for sure, and additionally, there's just a vibe that emanates from those AM Gold classics that just makes me happy. I can't really explain it, but it's definitely not a pleasure that I feel the least bit guilty about.

So be forewarned, there will be some sappy and sentimental jams on this next album, and I couldn't be more stoked about that fact.