It’s fabulous watching multi-instrumentalist John Salaway take on every role in the band in his new video for ‘Letting Go is the Hardest Part’. With effortless-looking performances on guitar, piano and drums, Salaway showcases his many gifts. Most importantly, he can craft and arrange a great song. This single is particularly notable for beautifully melodic verses that immediately bring The Beatles to mind and for Salaway’s clean, clear, tuneful vocal.
Salaway described the song’s themes for AUK: “This is my favourite song on the record and it’s really resonating with people at my shows. It’s a song about forgiveness, redemption and letting go of the past; forgiving ourselves for what we’ve done wrong and forgiving others who have hurt or scarred us because ‘there’s no such thing as a perfect human being.’ I think we all have things that we have a hard time letting go of. Even the things that we know are weighing us down can be hard to let go of. I believe that real peace in life and real forgiveness comes from letting go of those things, but sometimes that is the hardest part. My inspiration for writing this is to give people hope and remind them that we’re all going through something and we all need grace, forgiveness, and redemption.”
‘Letting Go is the Hardest Part’ is taken from Salaway’s recent album ‘Salvation’, which was written entirely during the quarantine. His approach is hopeful and he looks forward with a sense of positivity. As we begin to emerge from the worst of the pandemic, the current of optimism that flows through Salaway’s songs feels particularly timely. He says of the record: “‘Salvation’ organically became a concept album because of everything we all went through in 2020, and because of the personal things that I went through over the past two years. It’s about the end of one chapter in life, letting go of things from the past that we hold on to, and starting a new chapter with hope and optimism. Salvation means deliverance from harm, loss or sin. I hope this music uplifts people, gives them hope and reminds them that although we went through a lot, things are going to get better! I believe it’s my strongest album yet and I can’t wait to see how others react to it.”
Having played shows with the likes of Anderson East and Ben Folds and with a weekly residency at BB King’s Blues Club, the Nashville songwriter is picking up plenty of admirers. Check out ‘Letting go is the hardest Part’ and the new album. You’ll find traditional musical influences with a little hope and freshness stirred into the mix. Enjoy.
