Lori McKenna's ‘Heart Shaped Bullet Hole’ EP

This EP exudes the brilliance that is Lori McKenna.  As one of my favorite female songwriters, she always has songs that speak the truth in a heart wrenching way.  

“All It Takes” -- Takes the listener along on the memory train.  The memories she has of someone are reminders in her everyday life presented by the most ordinary of occurrences.  Every event has some association for the person.  This relates to all of our lives; whether it’s eating ice cream or a favorite artist/song growing up.  It takes you back to the place and time; it reminds you of spending time with specific people.  Some of the simplest things remind us and take us to that place.  This song is a wonderful description of how memories constantly follow us around.

“Whiskey and Chewing Gum” – In the intro of this song love is compared to whiskey and chewing gum.  She compares love to whiskey in the way that it isn’t right but it gets you drunk and numbs for a while, but will never make you complete.  Love is like chewing gum in the way that it’s good when it is fresh but it soon becomes tasteless. And you continue chewing even after the point.  Love is a difficult emotion to grasp and hold onto and this song is the struggle of trying to understand why it’s so hard to do.  The takeaway I have from this song is that when love is difficult it isn’t meant to be, and when it is meant to be, love is easy.  Love cannot be imagined, it just is.

“Sometimes He Does” -- This tune is about holding onto a relationship for the good moments that happen but are far and few between.   The woman in this song is clearly very saddened by the state of the love that is stale.  She talks about everything the guy doesn’t do, but the relationship is justified because sometimes he does them.  At times he is the prince charming of her world.  It puts a twist on what we all think of when thinking about what a relationship should be like.  It’s a cold relationship that has a faint glimmer of hope and the way she illustrates the dilemma is phenomenal.

“No Hard Feelings”—This track is about the struggles of breaking up and getting back together to try and make things work.  It seems that now is finally the last time for calling it quits.  Once love has left it is gone for good, and there is no recapturing it.  Walking away is difficult but it will make for the best outcome in the end.  There are no hard feelings for the ending of this relationship. 

“Heart Shaped Bullet Hole” – The title track on the album is an upbeat tune.  Having your heart broken is never a good thing and trying to cover it up is nearly impossible:  “But you can’t hide hurt in a yellow dress, it will soak right through.”  As it says in the song, love is dangerous and there is not really a way to protect oneself from getting hurt.  Eventually, you will move on but there will always be a scar that remains.  The song concludes with a wish for revenge, which is always sweet when someone has done you wrong.

“This and the Next Life” – Sometimes a stand still is reached with the person we’re in love with when there is nothing else to be to said or done.  Words have been spoken to improve the situation but have not been heard.  If there were an endless amount of time to resolve the relationship to be what it once was, then love would last for eternity.   This would be ideal, but in reality we know this isn’t possible.  Yet we continue to hope for love’s return.

This collection of songs is a job well done by Lori.  Her amazing vocals paired with honest lyrics brings emotion out of the listener.  It’s refreshing when something is said in a way that it hasn’t been before.  She is always wonderful at this, and the compositions on this album are representations of her incredible writing skills.

Download 'Heart Shaped Bullet Hole' on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/heart-shaped-bullet-hole-ep/id567267463?uo=4

Brent Cobb Captures With Self-Titled EP

When I first heard Brent Cobb’s EP I was captivated from the very first line to the last.  It starts off with “Diggin’ Holes”:

“Well I oughta be workin’ in a coal mine, neck deep in black lung soot, swingin’ a pick at that mountain side, half way to China.  I think I would--fit right in where the sun don’t shine, she’s better off alone, yeah I oughta be workin’ in a coal mine, Lord knows I’m good at diggin’ holes.”

The song goes on to describe his dilemma: “When it comes to love I ain’t got a clue, what this heart of mine is supposed to do.”  This line pulls the song together.

At the conclusion, the listener is hit with the heaviest verse of the song: “If I had a shovel I’d bury this heart, 6 feet down.  And my last words would be ‘I never meant to hurt you, I’m better off a ghost.’  Yeah I oughta make my livin’ in a graveyard, Lord knows I’m good at diggin’ holes.”

Brent performs this song flawlessly making the listener feel every word.  The honesty and vulnerability in this song shows that nobody is perfect and that we all experience rough times in life.  “Diggin’ Holes” is an ultimate of ‘I messed up’ songs.

“Love On Me” is next up.  This track is a charming portrayal of a guy convincing his girl why they need to be together.  After a first listen it’s hard to believe she would say no J.  It’s a happy, upbeat tune that you’ll find yourself dancing (unless you have two left feet) and singing along to.

“To Be Saved” is a heartfelt confession of a man who knows he needs a change in his life.  The gentleman in this song is tired of himself, “tired of hearin’ Mama cry” and doesn’t wonder where he’s going when his time comes.  He wants to be saved, which is the premise of the song.  It’s a celebration of a spiritual kind and at the same time life in general.  My favorite line in this song, possibly the entire EP is “It’s gonna be a party and the all night kind, and we ain’t stoppin’ til the pitch black shines.”  The future is bright and it’s where the hope lies.  The past is gone, and with each new day brings brighter possibilities. 

“Good To Go For Cheap” is the story of a couple good timing friends.  Although one of them isn’t able to do anything ever since he never has any money.  This is unfortunate, but he takes it all in stride, telling is friend to “have a good time, without me it’s okay.” In the end he ends up picking up his buddy after he’s had a rough night with ever clear, but he won’t let him sleep until they swing by Waffle House and grab something good to go for cheap.  This is an adventurous and telling tale of true friends.

“Dear You” is the result of the process of trying to find the right words to say when they seem to be impossible to find.  “It took quite a few times for me to finally find what I wanted to say.”  In the end he hopes they can still be friends despite him actions.  The heart grows fonder with separation, and it seems that he is truly missing the one he once loved.  This song is so eloquent in it’s simplicity to describe something we all go through.  He signs off “Sincerely, Yours ‘Til The End,” which shows his continuing love.

“Good Old Days” fights the pessimistic view that the good life is in the past.  Cobb sings “these are still the good old days.”  Not letting anyone influence his outlook on life, he chooses to see the present in a positive light.  He need not dwell in the past as his present is just as good as it was back then; and by the sounds of it, it’s better.  Life is all about what you make it.  The beauty in this song is that it shows off the people who complain about the way things are today.  While they’re complaining, we’re over here living the dream.

“Oh, I can still catch all of the Braves games, yeah these are still the good old days.”

Check out the EP on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/brent-cobb-ep/id560631244?uo=4