Release date 2021
THE HOPELESS SON
The Hopeless Son – the first track lifted from the upcoming 2021 LP Gabriel. Recorded in Nashville, USA from an album completed just before COVID-19 wrought its havoc on the world. A track that says “Sometimes you need to scale the heights, jump the fence and bolt. Sometimes the least likely makes the break. The Hopeless Son, like a sonic escape, does just that. The delivery is questioning, yet determined, because hard won freedom requires a gamble, a risk. Here’s a vocal that sits right in the front seat suggesting the fear of heights can’t be avoided if you really need to get away”
Recorded at ‘Welcome to 1979’ in Nashville during March/April 2020.
Produced by Justin Weaver
Engineered by Chris Mara.
Mixed by Chris Mara & Justin Weaver
Mastered by Ryan Smith, Sterling Sound Nashville TN.
Jack’s thoughts: I fell on top of this song, at LAX waiting waiting, as you do a lot in airports. I often use this time to go through all my ideas that I record day to day in the Voice Memos app, deleting plenty of rubbish and sorting through what’s possible and probable. I’d forgotten all about this tune, but when I played back what I’d recorded on a resonator guitar, the song and the arrangement was all but complete, a real surprise. What I live for as a songwriter. I had the opening line sitting there from months previously, looking for a home, ‘Who cut the stone/ Who built the bridge’ so as soon as I was back at the guitar I followed that line & the lyrics came. Before I went into the studio I added a middle eight. I love the tension in this song.
Sometimes one needs to scale the heights, jump the fence & bolt. Sometimes the least likely makes the break. ‘The Hopeless Son’ like a sonic escape does just that in this sparse yet tense track. The delivery is questioning, yet determined, because hard won freedom requires a gamble a risk. Here’s a vocal that sits right in the front seat suggesting the fear of heights can’t be avoided if you really need to get away. ‘Who cut the stone/Who built the bridge/Who climbed alone/From out on the edge?’, atop a pulsing drum delivered brilliantly by Jimmy Paxson, who cracks the track wide open, where the band begins to play with Justin Weavers intense rollicking electric guitar on a solid bedrock of ‘Cowboy’ Chris Autry’s bass guitar. ‘Bring me the Hopeless Son / Alive’ There’s not always a way out but sometimes there’s a way back.
Credits:
Jack Nolan – vocal & guitar
Justin Weaver – electric guitar
Jimmy Paxson – drums
Chris Autry – bass guitar
