Rees Shad – “Ain’t That the Way”
Americana Highways is hosting this video premiere of Rees Shad’s song “Ain’t That the Way” from his forthcoming album Porcelain Angel, set for release later this spring. Porcelain Angel was produced by Rees Shad and Doug Ford; mixed and mastered by Shubham Mondal; with recording engineers Doug Ford, Greg Caproni, ‘Decibel’ Dave Dennison, Shubham Mondal, and Rees Shad. The album was recorded at Stressless Studios in Great Barrington, MA and at Studio 9 Porches in North Adams, MA.
Musicians on “Ain’t That the Way” are Rees Shad on vocals and guitar; Kemp Harris on vocals; Wanda Houston on vocals; Natalia Zukerman on vocals; and Bobby Kay on marking drum.
This video was produced by Joe Aidonidis. This is civil rights footage with the army and police juxtaposed against young folks, with Rees on his resonator guitar, posing the thought provoking: “If we watch in silence / If we just turn our backs / Do we have the right to question where we end up at?” Would it make things worse, would it make things better, if we speak out? Hearty, sincere and powerful vocals land the point of the song with a spine tingling endorsement.
It took me half a lifetime to come to the realization that when I heard another person expressing untruths, bigotry or sexist smack that I should not just turn away out of a fear of being perceived as confrontational. I was raised to be polite, but I realized some time ago that remaining silent emboldens this kind of thinking. Now I work to speak out against injustice whenever I can. I endeavor to do so without being overly confrontational, but I can no longer simply let the crap slide on by. So this song is about the necessity to call out the crap when we see it. – Rees Shad
Pre-sale of the album is available at his website here: https://www.reesshadmusic.com/music-catalog
Enjoy some of our previous coverage here: REVIEW: “The Galahad Blues”
