Lightning Stills self-titled
Drinking is fun, right up until it ain’t. That’s the overarching theme to the debut full-length from Lightning Stills. The Omaha band has crafted a country record soused in late-night bar misadventures, plus more than a little day (all hours of the day) drinking. But it’s not the celebratory slop you’d hear in, say, a Lee Brice song – it’s stomach-churning truth about what can happen when the bottle becomes the only thing you cherish.
With all of the serious drinking talk, make no mistake – Lightning Stills is far from a dreary recovery record. Album leader “Gas Me Up” is an upbeat honky tonker spiced by guest fiddle player Oliver Bates Craven (The Stray BIrds) that celebrates surreptitious trips from the bar to the car – “Crank those tunes/Until we’re done/Then close on up/That bag of fun”” – while also acknowledging the unavoidable recompense – “But in the morning/I’ll pay the toll.” The mid-tempo “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Dealer,” paced by Mike Friedman’s organ, balances, in a single couplet, the enthusiasm of the score – “He’s my hero, he’ll save the day” – with that same impending regret – “But in the end, I’ll have to pay.”
That balance – tonight’s highs beget tomorrow’s rock bottoms – is the key to the songs from the band’s frontman, Craig Fort. The singer – eventually – arrived at sobriety as means to salvage his role within his own family. But, between playing in bands and tending bar, he collected more than enough stories to populate his band’s coming out (non-traditional) party. “Drunker Than Me,” with steel guitar and barroom piano from Friedman, has Fort drinking in scenes of a fellow addict – “To my surprise, the bottle was gone/And you’re out back, face down in the lawn” – with something between awe and disgust. “Spirits” skews a bit darker, with Fort finding threats to his survival (because that’s what it’s become at this point – mere survival) lurking everywhere – “Someone call a priest, ‘cause I need help/There’s spirits right here sitting on the shelf.”
Like the other deeply pickled tunes on Lightning Stills, though, “Spirits” is most definitely not a nagging admonishment to stop drinking; rather, the sorry scenes are more of a “do I see myself in this?” moment – not the triumphal tales told from a sober perspective, but from a deep-in-it drinker. The lived experiences of Fort and his characters make the album’s capper, “Closed Down the Bar,” feel that much more earned. The up-tempo, dance floor-worthy tune has Fort (again, with dark humor) celebrating his personal milestone by bankrupting his favorite watering holes – “Their profits fell, ‘cause their sales were sinking.” With a whole new, significantly less blurry world out there – “My head is clear and my eyes are open wide” – Fort and his band can pursue bigger, de-boozed goals.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “My Mama Wants a Love Song” – Fort knows the inside of a bar, but writing a love song proved to be a challenge. Urged on by his Mom (really), and with his wife, Jeanne, in mind, Fort succeeds with this swingy, self-aware tune by openly admitting he’s not sure how to do it – “Where do I start?/And where would it go?”
Lightning Stills was produced by Lightning Stills and Ian Aeillo and mixed by Aeillo. Lightning Stills is Craig Fort (vocals, guitar), Mike Friedman (steel guitar, guitars, keys, vocals), Tom May (guitars), Dan Maxwell (bass), Matt Baum (drums) with Oliver Bates Craven guesting on fiddle (Javid Thunders played drums on the album).
Go here to order Lightning Stills (out February 20): https://www.maxtraxrecords.com/shop/lightning-stills-lp
Lightning Stills will perform an album release show on February 20 at Omaha’s Slowdown. Info here: https://wl.eventim.us/event/lightning-stills/672227?afflky=Slowdown