Front Porch Musings

Alright, I’m just gonna throw it out there, and I hope not to offend anyone, but I’m gayer on this album than Adam Lambert at a Jonas Brothers concert. If you don’t feel like reading me gush about how great this album is, I suggest you skip to the mp3’s and find out for yourself. For the two of you that are reading on (most likely Skeet and Keith,) you certainly won’t be disappointed.

Nowhere Nights is currently available at Kasey’s website, and is set for full release on February 16th. This is the Portland native’s fourth release since 2004, and stands to be his most impactful release to date. From start to finish, Anderson presents 11 of the most well-written and most introspective tracks that he’s ever penned. I can’t really sum up the experience better than Kasey did himself when he stated that it is “equal parts charge, benediction, apology and indictment.” Lyrically, you’ll find all of these elements presented in a purely poetic and creative fashion, backed by styles of music that fluctuate from slower, stripped down folk tunes to outright rockers that show a real punk sensibility. For me, running that gamut is a sure-fire way to keep my imagination fully engulfed in the stories that are presented and my ears entertained by the music that helps the stories move along. Slower tunes like “Bellingham Blues” and “Like Teenage Gravity” really show the battles that Kasey went through in piecing together this album over the years. Dealing with issues of where you’re living, who you’re living with, and thinking back about when things were simpler.

Bellingham Blues

Like Teenage Gravity

The faster tracks on the album however, are what really get me moving. Quicker tracks like “All Lit Up” will definitely get you moving, and “Sooner/Later” strikes me as country music story-telling with a tempo that gives it a sweet punk-rock feel. The title track is another great rocker that showcases Kasey’s scratchy vocals above some great guitar work.

All LIt Up

Sooner/Later

But, the one song that cemented this album as a shoo-in top 10 of 2010 for me is the haunting tale of Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller in “I Was A Photograph.” I first heard this track at about 9:00 PM as I was driving down the I-5 from San Francisco to Bakersfield and it was like a punch to the face. I put the track on repeat for the last 45 minutes of my drive and was just hypnotized by the story. The lyrics do such an amazing job of painting the picture of what it’s like for troops in Iraq, and what kind of battles they can face when they return. I’ll never know what that’s like, nor will I pretend to, but this song makes me respect it all the more. So much so in fact, that I’m going to list the lyrics for y’all below the track. Give ‘em a read as you hear this tune and I hope you see what I mean.

I Was A Photograph (Blake’s Song)

sky the color of a match been struck
sun just hangin’ like the noose got stuck
and you can try to stare it back down
but you can’t cover it up
red dirt rising ’til it fills your lungs
your hand’s the bullet and your heart’s the gun
and you learned how to turn your back on almost anything
but you never learned to run

you’ve seen the ditches where the dead get left
and the hungry cats in the hollow chests
and you can pin your eyes shut, boy
but you can’t get no rest
hell, it’s just bones scattered in the dust
and it don’t mean nothing to the TV trucks
’til it’s real american boys
spittin’ up real american blood

in charlie company, first thing you’re taught
is you ain’t worth half of what you thought
and just like everything else i learned
i couldn’t shut it off
so i felt like nothing when i got back home
and my father saw me in my granddad’s clothes
and said, “you inheret my blood, boy
but your sins are all your own”

i don’t sleep like i did before
i just wake up trembling on the bedroom floor
always seven steps from the ghosts
on the other side of that door
wondering, what did i do to earn another day
’cause i don’t confess, sure as hell don’t pray
i just defend, attack, withdraw
and delay

you know my face, i was a photograph
on the front page, ‘neath the headline WAR
and i was numb back then, boy
i ain’t even numb no more

Shit just gives me the chills. Check out the links below for more information on Kasey, Blake’s story, and stay tuned for news about Kasey’s upcoming tour which will hopefully include a Porch Session.

Time for LOST!

Brain

Kasey’s MySpace

Kasey’s Website

Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller