Vincent Neil Emerson Blue Stars
Country music, whether it be radio-friendly pop or the stuff we talk about here on Americana Highways, tends to center around four topics – lovin’, workin’, drinkin’ and rememberin’. The quality of the songs seems to hinge on the relatability of the writer – I (as someone who’s engaged in all of the Mount Rushmore of Country Music Activities mentioned above) tend to identify more with an individual songwriter who’s lived a lifetime (or four), rather than a roomful of anonymous writers thrown together in Nashville, trying to craft the next generic smash hit. That’s why the writing of someone like Vincent Neil Emerson continues to ring true for me. Even if I don’t always share his perspective (being from Texas, surviving as a touring musician), the life experience poured into his songs rings true every single time. His fourth album, Blue Stars, is stuffed with the “stuff” of life, told by the man who’s living it.
“Livin’ in the Past” leads off the record with a clockwork beat from drummer Jason Baczynski and bass player Dale Johnson (Emerson’s touring musicians, The Red Horse Band, joined him in the studio for Blue Stars). While Emerson expresses affection for the “easier” times gone by – “I was just a child/All the things I’d come to know” – the song warns against getting bogged down in too much rememberin’, at the risk of never moving forward – “Well, I’m always lookin’ back/On the days that I have spent/I been losin’ time/And it can’t be found again.”
When it comes to workin’, Blue Stars comes at it from a couple of angles. “The Great Highway” is a life-on-the-road song told from, well, the perspective of a do-it-all roadie – “Throwin’ back the coffee black/Checkin’ on the thermostat.” But the more interesting angle comes on the fiddle-laden (via Preston Wait) “Rich Man.” It’s the type of story that used to be fairly common in country music – bone-breaking work without substantial reward – that’s been replaced by the “work is good because, by God, it’s patriotic” type of pap that pops up in today’s “feel-good” country (seriously, boys – your pick-up truck ain’t ever gonna be your best friend). “Rich Man” digs a little deeper for the truth where, rather than honestly addressing inequities, laborers are pitted against each other – “Blame it on the poor/The hungry, sick, and tired/They must be the ones who lit the fire.” While not overtly a protest song, Emerson is certainly not waving the flag for unfettered capitalism and greed.
There are a couple of lovin’ songs on Blue Stars. And while the pedal steel-bathed (from Ian Taylor Sutton) “Jet Plane” is warmed by thoughts of a current partner – “I was blinded by the sunlight on the wings/And it reminds me how you shine on everything” – it’s the very next song, the melancholy “Angeline” that stands out. The acoustic ballad recalls a love’s life story – “No woman ever called me handsome/But you always like the way I sing/And I could never afford your ransom/But you don’t care for pearls or fancy things.” Being a country song, devastation is sure to follow, but it’s not from a break-up (which doesn’t happen) or even so much from Angeline’s death (which does), but from what befalls that not-so-handsome man after his love departs – “But some people thought that I might be a danger/And they stuck me in this place they call a home.” The narrator’s only salvation – from love lost, and from the way we warehouse our elderly – is a slow, natural death.
While any country singer has had their share of drinkin’ songs, Blue Stars finds Emerson in a very different place in life. He spoke last year on social media about quitting drinking – “I drank enough to know that it’s really hard to write a song when you’re fucked up, and even harder when you’re hungover” – and he included a stab at a new song, “Chippin’ at the Stone.” That song gets the full band treatment here, including some gorgeous mandolin from producer Patrick Lyons, but the sentiment remains unvarnished – “I can’t stand to be myself/But I can’t be nobody else/And no matter how much that I use/The more you take the more you lose.” Lovin’ (or the lack of it, from friends who aren’t true), rememberin’ (more innocent times) and workin’ (toward sobriety) all show up here, but it’s the lack of drinkin’ that’s most important to Emerson, now and in his future. Either that, or there might not be much more living worth writing about.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Dark Horse” – This twangy country rocker stands up for the little guys ‘n’ gals – “Mama packed us up and moved to the city/Tryin’ to find a better way for the kids to live/Well it’s hard on a woman in the world” – and features some fantastic guitar work from Nigel Solomon.
Blue Stars was produced by Patrick Lyons, engineered by Mitch Furr and mastered by Mike Monseur. All songs written by Vincent Neil Emerson. Musicians on the album include Emerson (vocals, acoustic guitar), Dale Johnson (bass), Nigel Solomon (lead electric guitar), Jason Baczynski (drums), Ian Taylor Sutton (pedal steel guitar), Chris Hurst (organ, piano, clavinet), Preston Wait (fiddle), Justin Miller (Native drum and flute), Leif Shires (trumpet), Max Abrams (saxophone), Garrett McKie (guiro), Rural Sultan (guiro), Patrick Lyons (mandolin, electric guitar) and Jake Groves (harmonica).
Go here to order/stream Blue Stars (out April 17): https://vincent-neil-emerson.myshopify.com/collections/all
https://orcd.co/bluestars
Check out tour dates here: https://vincentneilemerson.com/home#tour
Enjoy some of our previous coverage here: Vincent Neil Emerson