Gregory Ackerman as photographed by Nell T Sherman
Americana Highways brings you this premiere of Gregory Ackerman’s song “Good Song,” from his forthcoming album Still Waiting Still. The album was produced, mixed and recorded by Pierre de Reeder and mastered by Mark Chalecki of Little Red Book Mastering.
“Good Song” is Gregory Ackerman on vocals and guitar; Keenan McDaniel on drums and percussion; Mark Federonic on trombone; Eva B. Ross on backing vocals; Theo Federonic on trumpet and Grant Milliken on synth. Taking a meta-perspective on songwriting, Gregory Ackerman explores the pressures and realities of capturing that elusive good song. We’d say he succeeded in his mission.
I wrote ‘Good Song’ out of this feeling of desperation that I just wanted my music to be heard, and I felt like the only way to break through to the world of critics was by writing a ‘good’ song. I thought about that notion for a while.
I began to think about how one creates a ‘good’ song, and the lyrics just started to come together about the notion of pouring yourself into a song in hopes to even get considered as a ‘good’ songwriter. I was tired of trying to write a hit song to get recognized, so I just wanted to write about the process of writing a song objectively, and scrutinize the notion of creating a ‘good’ song in general.
The writing process can be so painful sometimes (‘dredging up feelings of the past’), and no matter how much heart and soul you put into a song, there’s always the chance that it can be ultimately overlooked. It can be such a sad and lonely feeling to make music that goes by the wayside. But it can also be such a joyous and communal one too when a song you write is understood or gets recognized as meaningful to others. – Gregory Ackerman
Order link: https://gregoryackerman.bandcamp.com