And once again we find ourselves striking an accidental core of coincidence, because whilst R.R. Williams is definitely and solidly within a “Heartland rock” sub-genre of Americana on today’s track ‘Tulsa‘ he has – wouldn’t you know it – a past steeped in metalcore. Used to be punks going Americana, now it’s metal heads of one sort or another – well: plus ça change, plus c’est pareil.
However, it was during his time playing bass with John Moreland and The Black Gold Band / Dust Bowl Souls that Williams started to focus on acoustic music. His new album ‘Unremarkable Lives’ is a collection of personal stories about, well, he explains what they are about: “the title track is about when my wife and I both lost our jobs at the same time, starting over from scratch in our late 30’s, and trying to find the good in that situation. The rest are stuff about change and aging. Divorce, young love, Christian guilt.”
And today’s song is an apparently gentle acoustic folk number which could just be about a hometown, but it pays to listen a little closer, as these city limits might not be such a welcome sight. R.R. Williams told Americana UK that: “The song is about the opposite of being homesick. Coming home from chasing a dream with your hat in your hands and even that being a struggle to just get to the place you’re trying to get away from. Tulsa in this song is a stand in for the reality of things not going like you hoped they would.”
‘Unremarkable Lives’ was recorded at Purple Aura Studio, also known as John Moreland’s place and Moreland both plays on the record and produced it. The album is out on Black Mesa Records on August 9th.
