Americana Highways brings you this premiere of Jeff Crosby’s song “Un-American.” “Un-American” was recorded at Trench Studios in Portland, OR; produced and engineered by Gregg Williams; mixed by Geoff Piller and mastered by Jon Neufeld.
“Un-American” is Jeff Crosby on guitars and vocals; Gregg Williams on drums; and Darci Carlson on bass. “Feels like my whole life I’ve been stuck watching from the bleachers” is a good start for the feeling of watching divisions between people. “Don’t talk over the music, we should be dancing,” is another image on the same perspective. The music absolutely makes you want to dance as Jeff Crosby plays a bright guitar sound in a rockin’ Americana style.
This one is from a collection of songs I started writing in spring of 2020. I’d moved back to Idaho from Nashville as all touring appeared to be canceling and I found myself back in the small town I’d grown up in and getting the “inside scoop” on world conspiracies. I heard a few guys arguing about what it meant to be an American at a local bar and one of ’em just kept saying “well that’s UnAmerican!”
It stuck in my head throughout the next few days. How one person’s idea of what it means to be an American can be so completely different from the person he or she is sitting next to. How we all seem to have our own stubborn opinions in this broad definition of what it means to be from here or live in this country. I didn’t wanna write some over the top political song (even though the title sort of alludes to that) but more of an observation of the differences and similarities in our opinions in how we define ourselves here. And how sometimes I feel like we’re so busy arguing about it that we forget to enjoy it for what it is. Which led me to the line “Don’t talk over the music baby, we should be dancin’!”
In an attempt to not sound like I’m tryin to over simplify it this song was mostly getting some frustration out after hearing someone be berated for being “UnAmerican.” And how we’re all just seeing this whole concept from so many different perspectives. And maybe that’s the beauty/point of it. — Jeff Crosby
Check out our interview here: Interview: Jeff Crosby on his career, new record, and adapting to COVID-19