songwriting

In the regular cycles of our never-ending media traffic jam, most one-year-old albums have faded from attention, and the artists are often looking forward to the next thing. But every so often a record grows in relevance and we see with hindsight how the work of art met its moment. Listen, by Nashville’s Kyshona, which has its first anniversary this week, is such a project.

If you love, cherish and follow Nashville’s songwriting and Americana scenes, every now and then, you probably find yourself pausing, perhaps while cooking or crossing the street, and asking yourself: I wonder what Will Kimbrough is up to? And friends, it’s our job to find that out and report to you that the answer is - just about everything. 

Glad You Made It, the sophomore album by Dallas singer-songwriter Joshua Ray Walker, starts in a subdued tone, as the song “Voices” introduces us to a guy who’s not glad to be anywhere. He’s contemplating suicide and maybe even taking steps to make it look like an accident. This all feels disorienting for an opening track, until about halfway in, Walker grounds us by sculpting the line “Lord give me peace” into a long, lonesome falsetto that breaks your heart in half. This guy can really sing.