We’re premiering ‘Gettin’s Good‘ today from the upcoming Beau Jennings album ‘Son of Thunderbird‘ due out on June 5th. And if it sounds at all familiar then it’s because it – like all the songs on ‘Son of Thunderbird‘ – is an acoustic take on a song that first appeared on last year’s full band release ‘The Thunderbird‘.
Not that the new recordings are a solo effort – whilst Beau Jennings performed and recorded the album himself it includes contributions from friends John Calvin Abney, Andy Adams, Sherree Chamberlain, Samantha Crain and Chase Kerby.
‘Gettin’s Good‘ see’s the Oklahoman questioning the merits of holding on against the attractions of just up and leaving. This version of the song came together through karaoke disappointment and jamming, as Beau Jennings explained to us ” ‘Getting’s Good’ went through so many variations before landing on the take we used for The Thunderbird, which found a kind of Dire Straits/old rock n’ roll feel that we wanted to hit. In fact, I first wrote it after not being able to sing a Dire Straits karaoke song at a friend’s wedding. Now this was understandable because 1) the bride is an amazing singer and I rightfully kept getting bumped so she could kill it and 2) the bride’s mom was running the karaoke machine. But I went home that night thinking I needed my own spin on Walk of Life for the Tigers. It just feels good to play. Fast forward to a year later and I’m playing the song solo at an acoustic song swap with my friend Andy Adams – a fantastic songwriter and equally skilled instrumentalist – who starts really ripping it up on harmonica. I immediately knew that’s how I wanted to treat the acoustic version of the song for the Son of Thunderbird album.”
There’s also a personal element to the song which Beau Jennings elaborated on: “Like most of the other songs on the album, the verses of the song are snapshots of what I see happening around me in the time and place I find myself, which is Oklahoma in the year 2020. It’s one of two songs that mentions my hometown of Broken Arrow and while the names and places are specific I think they have a universality to them as well. I imagine the song is asking a question about the nature of change, and how sometimes that can be progress and other times it can be something more destructive. ”
