Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1lQPaWzjstwG1X3hWZb11A?si=U85iBAQ-Svy5ODLMAx4nig

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYmZyHXPUT4

I was listening to the Pulse of Americana playlist on Spotify.

I don't do that on a regular basis, listen to playlists, it was a last resort, I wanted to hear new music and...

I'm reading the news, but at this point I almost shrug, I guess I feel powerless.

As for podcasts... True crime...kinda burned out on that. And the political ones...the speakers are self-satisfied and believe they make a difference and...

You know how it is when almost nothing feels right?

That's why I ended up listening to the latest album by a classic act, and realizing it wasn't really that good, that's when I pulled up the Pulse of Americana playlist.

And...

It starts with the song. I know, I know, you've heard this over and over, but most people still don't learn the lesson, they just don't know what a song is. Listen to the Beatles' catalog and then sit down and write a song. Start with verse/chorus/bridge... If you can master this, then you can jump off into uncharted territory. "Tomorrow Never Knows" was not on the Beatles' first album...

And the form is important, the lyrics less so, but melody/changes always helps. It's very rare that a droning sound sans differences embeds itself in the mind of the listener.

So, assuming you've got the song, which is a big if, A BIG IF!

Then it comes down to the performance/recording of said song.

I once got an e-mail from someone, back when I used to respond, asking me about their song. I was not positive about the vocal, and then he responded...WHAT ABOUT THE LYRICS? The lyrics were not fantastic, but this guy was indignant, saying WHAT ABOUT BOB DYLAN!

And I responded BOB DYLAN IS THE BEST LYRICIST OF ALL TIME!

If you're in the league of Bob Dylan, and have a less than perfect voice, go for it, sing your own songs, but if you don't...don't put your music online and then bitch when no one wants to listen to it. Isn't that part of music, having a good voice? When did we lose the thread here?

As for recording... That's one thing we've lost with the major label/pre-internet era. Without a ton of money, recordings are not labored over (not that fast and cheap is always bad), and you end up with a lot of less than professional stuff. The internet is LADEN with less than professional stuff. To the point where it's nearly impossible to find the needle in the haystack.

But I found one.

"Poison In My Well" by Maggie Rose and Grace Potter...

Everybody's an armchair expert. I don't need a plethora of e-mail telling me this song is not great, I KNOW IT! But in a world of crap, it's pretty damn good, and it stood out.

First there was the groove, which got my head nodding... Too many people have not paid enough dues and don't know how to swing... This is what you get with endless live appearances, you gain FEEL! Too many of today's recording artists lack this.

And then when Maggie Rose comes in...SHE CAN SING! What a concept! Well, it is after listening to endless substandard vocals on the Americana playlist. Somehow people believe in this genre you can get away with imperfect vocals...believe me, the audience isn't enamored.

And after a short verse, there's a change, there's a pre-chorus, a revelation in a world where acts drone endlessly with one chord verses...

But it's better than that. This pre-chorus is not Ms. Rose alone, Grace Potter comes in singing along...which adds humanity and richness. Never mind Potter always bringing an element of swagger, the antithesis of the kewpie dolls like Ariana Grande.

And then these two women go into the chorus...

Now back when we used to go to bars to hear bands, this is what resonated, good singers wailing, going balls to the wall, giving it their all. We could FEEL IT in the audience.

And then there's the post chorus singing about poisoning the well... There's emphasis, attitude, but CONTROL! These women know what they're singing, they're feeling empowered.

And when Rose comes back in, she's upped it up a notch, she's got somewhat of a sneer.

And Grace Potter comes and doubles....

And listening on headphones I'm thinking of how we listened to this music back in the seventies, on the biggest rigs we could afford, LOUD! You can't get that gut-punching bass with earbuds/headphones, you can't feel the music, it's not all encompassing, it appeals to your head before your heart, before your genitalia...and believe me, although this song is not about sex, you can feel the sex in the vocals.

And I wanted to hear "Poison In My Well" again. The music had gotten to me, that groove, that professionalism, this was not someone recording with their iPhone eager to post to Spotify.

So I look up the song...

"All my expectations
You go and shoot 'em down
All my birthday candles
You go and blow 'em out"

Okay, he's a bad man. Not pedestrian, but not revelatory.

"'Cause if you can't have it
Then nobody can have it
Yeah, I know how it happens
You're gonna smash and grab it all"

The music and singing of the pre-chorus is great, and that one line about smashing and grabbing it all...that's a new way to put it, the image comes to mind...I know people like that, you do too...

But the best words are in the chorus:

"The only time you're every sorry
Is when you're sorry for yourself"

This is a cut above. I've never quite seen it put this way before.
And then there's the piece-de-resistance:

"You can't see what you can't see
You don't know how to be happy for somebody else"

On the page maybe not great...maybe not that great when looked at from a distance, but with the emphatic vocal the image is painted... Guys who are all about themselves, sharks, if they're not winning they're not interested, and any victories can't be at their expense, they always must come out ahead.

So now I'm on about the third or fourth time through and I start to do a little research. And I find out online this track came out in JULY!

So am I out of the loop or did this song never really happen...

Well, Spotify tells me there are only 147,119 streams, so...

As for Maggie Rose, whose name I know, but not much more...

She's been on a slew of labels, even made a record for Big Loud...

Close, but no cigar. In the old days, someone would have given up. Made it to the show but not the center ring.

But "Poison In My Well" is now on...One Riot?

Whatever that is.

But getting my info right, research tells me that "Poison In My Well" is nominated for a Best Americana Performance Grammy...which means I'm not the only person who is paying attention, who can see the merit in this track, but art is not about awards...the stars put theirs in their bathroom, if they display them at all... Most of the categories are for losers. No, the music game is about IMPACT! Which usually aligns with commercial success. Have people heard your music, did they like it and want to play it again, did they tell people about it?

That's worth more than any award. That's the game we're all playing, don't delude yourself otherwise. The committee is the public. What does the public have to say?

HAS THE PUBLIC EVEN HEARD IT?

Well, I'm not sure where "Poison In My Well" fits in today's marketplace. It's not Spotify Top 50 pop. Not mainstream country...you can't hear a hat or references to beer/babies/church and there's no banjo... Now Chris Stapleton broke through breaking all the rules, by just being great, so there is a lane...

Then again, Stapleton is fantastic. He supersedes the mainstream country crap, but if you're in his lane and don't have traction...

Americana encompasses too much dreck. To be a fan of this genre... Its fans don't want you, they're proud of their interests, and usually it's about lyrics and struggle and if an act's too polished, they're not interested.

So...

In conclusion... "Poison In My Well" is the best thing I heard on the Pulse of Americana playlist. It was the only song I wanted to hear more than once. I could put it on at a party and people's bodies would start to pulse along with the music, no one would say to take it off, but...

Most people have never even heard it.

This is the world we live in, if you do professional work that is a cut above the rest that still isn't enough for notice.

But I noticed "Poison In My Well."


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