All Categories - Ears Like a Hawke

Steffi Jeraldo - "Wiser"

7/12/2020

What an absolutely beautiful song by an absolutely beautiful person. Steffi's sweet soft voice just accentuates the words throughout this that can tug so much on your heart. This is like a coming of age story set to music, and it's incredibly perfectly crafted and told.

Eric Church - "Stick That In Your Country Song"

7/11/2020

Leave it to Eric Church, the country outlaw that he is, to bring modern social issues to country music. We're living in an age where the white washed honkytonk nature of happy go lucky country is being criticized more than ever, and Eric simultaneously calls it out and shows how it can be done.

Take me on up to Detroit city
Jails are full, the factories empty
Momma's crying, young boys dying
Under that red white and blue still flying
Drop me off in Baltimore
Where every other window's got a plywood board
Where dreams become drugs and guns
The only way out is to shoot or run

Stick that in your country song, yeah

Kaylee Rose - "Bless Her Heart"

7/10/2020

Hey, if any of my exes want to know what I think of your current relationships, Kaylee Rose has me covered. Always knew I was a southerner at heart.

This is such a cool funky sound even in what I'm sure is slightly considered country. Or maybe this is a pop crossover into country instead? Whatever the case may be, this girl has got something really cool mixed here.

I ain’t gonna cuss her out or tear her name apart
Even though I know that she’s the reason that you broke my heart
Soon enough you’re gonna show her who you are
Leave her like you left me in the dark so
Bless her heart

Ryan Hurd - "What If I Never Get Over You"

7/9/2020

There has been this very small but lovely trend lately of people covering songs that are usual sung in the opposite gender's voice, and that's sort of half of the case here. Normally you'd hear Hillary Scott's vocals and the girl's point of view, but this is all Ryan, all a heart-broken guy. Now he co-wrote it, so homey has every right to cover it on his own (another trend I love - Nashville writers also being artists - Ryan and his wife, Maren Morris, along with Sam Hunt and Chris Stapleton are just a few that have found superstardom in their own voices), and if you read the notes - he imagined losing Maren to do so. I'll just be over here in wave 4 or 20 of tears, thanks.

It comes in waves, the letting go
But the memory fades, everybody knows
Everybody knows

What if I'm tryin', but then I close my eyes
And then I'm right back, lost in that last goodbye?

James Taylor - "Fire and Rain"

7/8/2020

Late last night I got a notification that a friend was going live on his Instagram so I hopped on just to see what was up. I don't remember exactly what he was playing, but it was something I liked, especially on a late night at home writing and playing piano myself. He played some classics - I think I remember some Beatles in there. On the eve of what would have been my mother's 67th birthday though, this is the song that stood out. Happy birthday Mom. I miss you.

Won't you look down upon me, jesus
You've got to help me make a stand
You've just got to see me through another day
My body's aching and my time is at hand
And I won't make it any other way

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again

4 Non Blondes - "What's Up"

7/7/2020

It's my BFF's birthday and I love to find music we could be fools and sing loud to in the car - which is sort of funny because we don't drive a lot together. But she got me from New York to New Jersey and I love her for that and so much more. Plus, this is a kick ass song in general. Happy Birthday Jess!

And so I cry sometimes when I'm lying in bed
Just to get it all out what's in my head
And I, I am feeling a little peculiar

And so I wake in the morning and I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream from the top of my lungs
"What's going on?"

SOHEILL - "Start All Over"

7/6/2020

Some good beats to end this Monday on? Yes please, I'll take it. Layering sounds correctly can be an absolute mess if you don't get it all lines up right, but I promise that's not the case here. Instead the mesh is really nice and keeps you involved and tapping along the way. In an age where electronic sounds can be overwhelming, this clean manufacturing is very much a welcome sound.

Angels & Airwaves - "All That's Left Is Love"

7/5/2020

There's a natural feeling of nostalgia when you think about any of this Blink 182 off-shoots and hear Tom's voice out there again. Each one maintains its own style and I really love that approach to differentiating projects. Angels and Airwaves, for instance, plays around a lot more with electronic sounds and effects that do make you feel like you could beam up with those aliens. They come out with songs like these though that are a new level to what "Adam's Song" was for many of us, continuing to grow with the needs and minds of their fans too.

At night it is the worst
Always say we’re passing first,
Then delete the messages
The ones that really hurt

We, send out a call
love, runs, from, a, crawl

Jackson Capps - "Yesterday's Makeup"

7/4/2020

Ooh, this is kind of smokey country. Take me to a bar as a single girl listening to a sad cowboy song, getting through the night after a long day, and this is the song I want to be hearing. And then someone handsome to dance with in the sadness.

But I'm not here to write the music video here. I'm just listening to some soul-filled gorgeous classic country music that is so heart-breakingly beautiful

And when he shows up tonight she'll let him hold her tight
And for a while she'll pretend that it's love
He may not be Mr. Right but he's what she needs tonight
I guess that's what loneliness does
In the morning she'll try to be strong but it's hard when you wake up alone
And the only thing you have on, is yesterday's makeup

Rev Theory - "We Own The Night"

7/3/2020

This was a theme to some WWE PPV at some point and it stuck with me. Maybe it was even the theme for NXT altogether. Their music department has it together though man - they pick these powerful anthems that drive you to want to fight for whatever it is you have to fight for.

Head down
Walk the line with no opinion
First time
Full collapse, no conversation
Hey now, what are we fighting for?
Hey now, what are we lying for?