“Long Way Down”
The SteelDrivers

I forgot it was Chris Stapleton’s previous band.

I downloaded three playlists to my phone. “Singer/Songwriter Highlights 2015,” I wanted to catch up on what I might have missed, “The A-List: Singer/Songwriter,” since it’d had been so rewarding at home, and then “The A-List Country,” because I like the faux rock. But then I didn’t want to hear any of them and ended up listening to the “Undisclosed” podcast. Are you catching this? Turns out “Serial” was professional broadcasters doing a cursory number, but once you get professional attorneys and investigators involved they uncover things that make all the difference, like everything that was supposed to happen on the key day didn’t, despite prosecutors introducing evidence to that fact. Bottom line, you need money to persevere, to win in America, to hire those who can get deep into the weeds and exonerate you, or flummox the opposition to the point where you skate.

But when I got home I was in the mood for music again. So I pulled up “The A-List: Americana,” now that I was in a wifi zone.

I heard a song off of Neil Young’s new “Monsanto” album. I loved that someone cherry-picked it for me, the full album was too daunting.

And I liked the Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard track, “It’s All Going To Pot,” which I’d read about and hadn’t listened to. Furthermore, the hype on Ry Cooder’s playing on Sam Outlaw’s LP was well-deserved, but Sam has got the voice of a songwriter, if you know what I mean.

But then I discovered the SteelDrivers.

Funny thing about music is you know it when you hear it, kind of like what Potter Stewart said about porn, being able to discern what was obscene when he saw it.

That’s the problem I’ve found with most of the Spotify playlists, too many tune-outs, I feel like I’m panning for gold in a stream that’s been panned out, where people have planted imitation gems in order to frustrate me. Whereas I find the hit to shit ratio on Apple Music’s curated playlists that much better.

“Long Way Down” sounds like an outtake from “O Brother.” Only in this case, it’s an original. At least I think it is, there are no credits on Apple Music. Stuff like this is never gonna make the radio, but it’s the kind of music you play at home that satisfies, that makes you want to see the band live to immerse yourself in the sound and enjoy.

It starts off slow and easy, as if the band is tuning up, or the guitarist is waiting for everybody else, it’s anything but the balls to the wall intro featured in the pop and rock we hear on the radio.

And then the rest of the band falls in and it starts to swing. You’re enraptured immediately, taken back to that cabin in the woods, where the squirrels traipse and AT&T provides no signal.

The verse has melody. The fiddle is not superfluous, but integral, it adds flavor.

But then comes the piece-de-resistance:

So far down that it ain’t got a bottom
Thought you had wings but I guess you ain’t got ’em
Fallen angel don’t look now…

I started jitterbugging in my seat. I couldn’t stop. Still do, every time I hear the track, and right now I’ve got it on endless repeat, it sounds as good as last night, which is the mark of true greatness.

The album was cut in Muscle Shoals. Actually, that’s the name of it, “The Muscle Shoals Recordings,” so I’m even further intrigued, I suspect authenticity.

So I just pulled up the LP. But I couldn’t get past the first track.

SEE IF YOU CAN!

The Muscle Shoals Recordings
The SteelDrivers

(This is the link Apple Music renders. Unfortunately, it takes you to the traditional iTunes page in your browser and when you click on “View In iTunes”…nothing happens. Well, I tried it again and iTunes did launch, but it’s synching my iPhone and iPad for the zillionth time today…I haven’t got time to wait to see if the track comes up in Apple Music.)

So…

View it here on YouTube: The SteelDrivers – Long Way Down (where it’s free and easy, literally…)

Or listen on Spotify: The SteelDrivers – Long Way Down

P.S. The video almost ruins the song, it eviscerates the magic. Maybe, when music moves to streaming services, video will retreat to the back seat, where it belongs.

 

E-MAIL OF THE DAY

Great feedback on Apple Music. Totally agree with so many of the UI issues. Thank you for letting us know where to find the playlists. You’re right – they are a highly valuable part of the service and I didn’t find them until your instructions. I can’t imagine why they buried them like that.

Here’s another one that’s bugging me – I can go to an artist and select “Follow.” What does THAT even do? Does it affect customization under “For You”? Is it the same as inflating the bubbles twice? Does it add content to Connect? I can’t tell.

Jarrod Kopp