With gorgeous vocals, heavenly backing and a beautiful melody, the new single from My Girl The River is a fabulously tuneful anthem for resilience. Heavy is about the burdens we all carry within us, often unseen, often unnoticed. The weights we bear, with quiet, sustained resistance, can bring us low even as we appear to be managing the load. This idea is captured in the sweetly-sung line: “Just because I can carry it, doesn’t mean it’s not heavy.” Kris Wilkinson Hughes’ voice ranges high and low, tracing an absorbing musical path over soft, warm upright bass and bright slide guitar. Heavy is a deeply personal and emotionally resonant song that is expertly crafted and remains with you when it’s over.
Heavy features on the fourth album from Kris Wilkinson Hughes’ musical project, My Girl The River. Written, performed and produced at the age of 60, the album finds Hughes in the songwriting form of her life. At once intimate and universal, Manifest Good Things reflects the wisdom that comes from the experiences of a full life and stands up defiantly to industry norms that focus on youth. In fact, musical creativity does not diminish with age; rather, it evolves, develops, grows. Hughes’ encounters with life and her endurance are folded and woven into these songs.
Hughes says, “Why do ’emerging artists’ have an age limit? If it’s great music, what does age or gender have to do with it? Music creation shouldn’t have an expiration date. Painters, authors and poets are celebrated as they mature — why not songwriters? This is the best work I’ve ever made. It took a lifetime to get here.” Indeed. Both inspiring and uplifting, this is genuine, heartfelt music, written with sensitivity and style.
Great song and sentiment !