Photo credit: John Meloy
As much as I love keeping up with the most buzzed about and hyped up bands out there right now, sometimes nothing makes me happier than a dude with an acoustic guitar that isn’t afraid to bare his soul in a song. When Kasey Anderson contacted me to see if I’d be interested in checking out his new album, Nowhere Nights, I felt a sense of relief to devote my attention to music that at once feels familiar and comfortable.
“I Was a Photograph” is a fantastic example of Anderson’s truly introspective and thought-provoking lyrics. The opening notes of the harmonica (which is an instrument that, let’s face it, gets me every freaking time) build and blend with sparse guitar strums, soft piano keys, and a final, gut-punching drumbeat until the song reaches its climatic conclusion: “You know my face/ I was a photograph…”
I keep thinking about those lines, about how the whole of our identities can be condensed to a two-dimensional piece of paper. It’s definitely an idea that I need to spend more time with to fully grasp, but I thank Anderson for not only stirring my emotions but invigorating my mind.
Kasey Anderson – I Was a Photograph
The new album, Nowhere Nights, comes out on February 16, 2010 on Red River Records and is already available on iTunes. To catch Anderson on tour, check out his schedule here.