B-Sides
and the diamonds in the rough
B-Sides is out now!
I wrote it with my good friend and longtime collaborator, Jeff Malinowski on the same day we had actually started writing These Are The Days. We couldn’t quite get the song going for These Are The Days beyond the first verse and some ideas for the chorus. We were feeling stuck in what felt like cheesy Hallmark Channel vibes, so we abandoned it. I still had a feeling the song had something to it, so I later took it to my friend Zach Berkman, and the rest is history.
But back to that afternoon! It was nearing the end of the day, approaching the time we each had to leave to pick up kids from school, when Jeff and I started talking about loving the lesser-known or lesser-loved things in life. We were talking about songs at first, the deep cuts, the ones that aren’t radio hits. We went on to the feeling of being at a small rock club, right up front, watching your favorite band, with maybe only 50 people in attendance. From there, it expanded to loving the harder times in life, when you’re not on a winning streak, the times when, in a music town like Nashville, you can tell you’re not buzzing. People aren’t inviting you to parties, your Instagram isn’t alerting you to comments or mentions, and when you start empathizing deeply with the lyrics of Mr. Cellophane.
We were rooting in defining the things that matter to us. Not following the crowd, the trends, or the idolizing of the latest flavor of the week. The song came easily, maybe in just under an hour. It has felt like a larger backdrop to this time in my life. A regrounding in what I love, regardless of wider reception or acknowledgment.
Lyrics:
I like the b-sides the ones the crowds don’t know Never gonna be a hit you won’t hear em on the radio Deep cuts and basement tapes get buried in the show I like the songs nobody seems to know
I like the underdog the one in last place In the middle of a losing streak with mud on their face Nobody bets on them they’re the butt of every joke I like the underdog nobody seems to know
Diamonds in the rough that nobody sees It takes some time to make discoveries The castaways and the set asides Might hold the secret if you give em time
I like the dive bar the one off the beaten path They don’t make no cocktails just domestic beer on draft They barely keep the lights on but their jokebox has got soul I like the bar nobody seems to know
OR Listen here on your favorite streaming platform
****Things that feel like B-Sides****
Tiny rooms - small attendance at shows! The more intimate, the better.
House concerts
Making coffee at home
Not knowing of or going to any of the newest restaurants in town
Not being so busy and constantly on the road
Hand-me-down clothing
Thrift stores
Facebook marketplace finds
Your favorite artist who has under 10k followers on IG
PBS
Going to the library
Handwriting thank you cards
Pizza and movie nights with friends
Not using AI to write songs
Buying records from artists’ websites like mine…..
Going to your local record store
Staying in
Lying in a hammock, staring at the sky with my daughter, counting birds
Not always striving for MORE
And…..
Playing music in your town’s local record shop! This week was the final show from my spring residency at Vinyl Tap and it was so. much. fun. We played a bunch of new tunes and my friend Anthony da Costa got up and sang Shania Twain with me. We haven’t sung it together live since drunken new years karaoke back in 2020.
April 23-26th - I’ll be teaching at the Lutsongs Songwriter Retreat! Lutsens, MN
I’ll be joining my buds Fantastic Cat for a few shows in the midwest in April! TICKETS HERE
April 26th, Appleton, WI at Gibson Music Hall
April 28th, Columbus, OH at Natalie’s Music Hall
April 29th, Millvale, PA at The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls
July 17th, Winthrop, ME at Absolem Cider w/ Toby McCallister
July 19th, Cambridge, MA at Club Passim
July 24th, Exeter, NH at The Word Barn
MORE DATES TBA SOON! My touring will be minimal this year but there will be more dates coming in I promise! THANK YOU!
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My new album These Are The Days comes out on May 8th! The single is out now! Please go pre-save the full album on your streaming platform of choice and pre-order your physical copy at my website!
