Review- Zach Aaron: This Lovely War
Zach Aaron, a Cleveland, Texas-based singer/songwriter, along with his elegantly tarnished tenor voice, fingerpicked guitar melodies and raw honest sentiments in his lyrics make him seem of a different time than many of his contemporaries, yet timeless, all the same.
Zach Aaron provides an impressive record with sumptuous musicality and truly admirable storytelling. I am certainly his newest fan. His latest album, This Lovely War, contains eight delightfully thought provoking songs, dipped in nostalgia, whisking many of us away to a long forgotten time that conjures up memories of watching Technicolor Westerns: Gunsmoke, Bonanza and Rawhide.
Forged from personal experience, this record contains songs that provide a moral, a deeper lesson intended to be learned through listening. Some of these lessons pop and are clearly evident while others require a bit more effort as it is super easy to get swept along with the breathtakingly beautiful and blissful guitar playing.
Certainly, parallels can be drawn between Guy Clark, Marty Robbins and Kris Kristofferson. Perhaps if you can lose yourself in the music and not over think it, you might discover a hint of something special on “Someone’s Gotta Bleed.” This record will be broken down in order even though I want to skip to my favorite song. I'll remind you as I often have to remind myself, patience is a virtue.
“May The Iron Horse Get Fed” appears on Kayla Ray’s Songs of Extreme Isolation, Economic Crisis & Other Things. Hard to compare Kayla’s sultry, velvety voice to the tarnished tried and true tenor of Zach’s. The tie breaker has to be the ingenuity of the guitar playing and instrumentation on Zach Aaron’s version, who effortlessly breathes new life, zest and zeal into the tune.
This song has an old school Guy Clark inspired Texas train song feel along with a matching catchy melody. This song serves as a contemplative thought experiment. What happens when the rug you’re standing on is pulled right out from under you? Lessons contained in this song remind me of the book Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson. Cheese of course being a metaphor for whatever you want in life - job, love or a wonderful hunting dog. During this song, the singer laments what the rambler, roughneck, cowboy, poet and sinners are going to do when their way of life ceases to exist?
All desperately wanting to stay one step ahead of imminent or looming change. The message or moral ultimately being, may whatever makes you happy today indeed keep you happy tomorrow. Unfortunately things change, and if you don’t anticipate change you could find yourself being left behind in the name of progress. Or as the book says, nothing lasts forever, so keep your eyes open for approaching change.
Despite making poor choices, the protagonist in “Fall Down Drunk” realizes he needs help and doesn’t know where to turn so he calls on Jesus. Sometimes we find ourselves in an endless loop knowing that it's no way to live, yet we don’t have the strength to escape our demons and wish we could find help or salvation; we just don’t know how. The protagonist realizes he needs help but can’t escape the feeling of being drawn like a moth to a flame. The lyrics are very catchy and delivered with such conviction you almost think Jesus is going to pick up the phone and things are actually going to work out; if only Jesus would pick up the phone. “I fall down drunk cause I can't stand sober / The neon sign is my four leaf clover / Jesus is gonna save me / If I can only get him on the phone.” Before the end of this song, you will be singing along with the chorus.
“Cowboy In the Continental Suit” is a Marty Robbins song about overcoming adversity despite not looking the part and reminds folks not to judge the worth or value of someone by their appearance alone - the classic don’t judge a book by its cover parable. A man in a continental suit appears from seemingly nowhere, overdressed and doesn’t look the part. Yet, he came to ride 1500 pounds of hate they call Brute. The cowboy in the continental suit ultimately prevails. “We don’t know where he went, where he came from and we haven’t seen him since.” However, we are all better for the song and the reminder not to judge someone based on appearance.
“It’s You” is an incredible duet about the decisions we make. Choices that felt good in the short term over the things that endure. The journey and cost of learning what really matters the most. Drugs, alcohol and fame or giving it all up and living a life worth living. “It’s in my mornings / It's you holed up in my mind / I searched for truth in the gutter all my life / I burned up my youth to light this flame with you.” There is a voice in this song that asks him to make a choice. Could it be that Jesus finally picked up the phone from “Fall Down Drunk?” It's a great love song about pulling yourself out of the gutter and changing before it's too late. There is a lyric that goes “Sunday morning when I’m coming down” that could be a nod to Kris Kristofferson’s, “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” Perhaps it's an alternate ending to that song instead?
“Songbird” is a lonely lover's waltz that draws you in with soft luscious heartfelt twang and a pedal steel that whines ever so beautifully. There is a connection between the singer and the pedal steel both singing out a song that’s so blue.
“Living lonely is easy / I just can’t do it alone”
In “Truth is a Mirror,” it’s easy to see the parallels between the mighty Hayes Carll and Zach Aaron during this upbeat tune that I had to double check the CD player to verify if it was indeed not Hayes. There is a quote that I think serves as the nucleus of the song: “Truth was a mirror in the hands of God. It fell and broke into pieces. Everybody took a piece of it and they looked at it and thought they had the truth." - Rumi.
“Truth” being when your beliefs about the world align with how the world actually is. Having or finding a singular truth, doesn’t mean that you have found the whole truth. The mistake of course is believing that what is true for one person is true for everyone. The reflection in your piece of the mirror is different from the reflection in mine. Deep for a song, but delightful all the same.
“Someone’s Gotta Bleed” is my absolute favorite song on the album. I can't get enough of it. It starts off with the aforementioned western inspired theme that’s present throughout the album. It feels as familiar as home, yet just out of view. There is something special about the delivery of the chorus that escapes me, but all the while on the tip of my tongue. It resonates and brings back memories of 90’s Alternative. My mind instantly thinks of Eddie Vedder. It’s not Eddie, I know, but it's still fantastic all the same and I crave more of this in a way that’s honestly a bit embarrassing to think about. This song instantly caught my attention and I found myself playing this song on repeat and a tad derelict in giving the other tunes equal attention.
This is not a song about war, this is a song about a failed romance which I suppose can be akin to some kind of warfare. At first, he’s certain that he is blameless and then doubt begins to creep in and he wonders if it was him until he is finally able to admit to himself that he is indeed the one to blame. Who’s keeping score? No one is keeping score. Just like a real war there are certainly no winners; only losers, no matter who is at fault.
“Yesterday is gone / Though burning in your mind / Swimming in the embers of all you left behind / Here I am before you / I am not the enemy / Who is keeping score in this lovely war? / Someone’s gotta bleed”
“Latigo Joe” a tale about a bronc buster who is overserved one night and winds up in a bar fight and ends up killing a lawyer's son. Sentenced to life in prison with no chance at parole. Latigo Joe jumps at the chance to once again feel alive by accepting an invitation from the warden to join the prison rodeo. Prison was hell for Latigo Joe and he felt alive for the duration of the reprieve. Just like real life, you can’t get out of it alive. The draw of the ranked mare called Graveside foreshadows the ending that occurs only 7.8 seconds into the epic ride. Is it better to live forever locked behind a prison cell or risk it all for a taste of freedom doing what you love?
Zach Aaron continues to sharpen his ax, hone his craft and find his audience. I, for one, am ecstatic to have found him upon his upward trajectory well before everyone else discovers his magic. There is something there almost in reach yet to be tamed. Aaron is on the verge of tapping into that periphery and when he does he will transcend into the next layer of rarified air. His clever lyrics and stories tell a tale larger than life. I can’t wait till he realizes his full potential.
Find out more about Zach at the links below:
