Jeff Symonds – Back of the Stage
I was recently having a conversation with an incredible musician who, if all things in the world were fair and made sense, should be much more famous than he is. He has spent a big old chunk of his life playing smoke-filled clubs where the speakers have given his ears a perpetual ringing noise. He has favoured doing this over everything else, prioritised music over personal relationships and laid all of his hopes on a few songs.
It didn’t take me asking him. He knew what I was thinking. Was it worth it? “Nothing beats playing loud songs in smoke-filled bars,” he says, and meant it. He probably knew as much as I that nobody was going to write an epic novel about musicians carrying their guitars and amps on the train from one gig to another, or make a movie about playing your guts out and then having the club promoter refuse to pay you. Fortunately, all of this can still be immortalised in a great song, and Jeff Symonds has just the inside knowledge to write one.
Symonds blends humour with blissful power-pop melodies on “Back of the Stage.” But this is the kind of song that needs this sort of balance. Read just the lyrics, and you get the story of a typical working musician, forced to put so much work just to get the opportunity to play a few songs to people. However, add those pristine, sing-along melodies and what you get is the full picture. There are a few things that you could do to make your life harder, and fewer still that could make it better.
The Lousy Hitchhikers – Good Start
The greatest songs we all could’ve enjoyed have never actually been written. No, it’s not that the future great songwriters have just not gotten around to them yet. It’s because, well, frankly, the people who could’ve penned them had something better to do.
We all know a brilliant, creative type or two that we feel lucky to have as friends, and, occasionally, envious of their unbelievable talent. Still, for the most part, those people are also the most frustrating folks to be around.
Maybe it’s because people with a tremendous amount of ideas and the talent to execute them never get around to them, but finishing what they start is, I’m sure you’ll understand, difficult. This is what The Lousy Hitchhikers are trying to correct.
“Good Start,” to its credit, actually sounds like a zany alt-rock song written in between pauses of watching football or playing beer pong. The Lousy Hitchhikers have great hooks to work with and a fantastic energy, but they are fighting their proclivity for choosing distractions each step of the way. “Good Start” is a song that lets you know that there are others who struggle with the deadline just like you do.
