By Noe Gutierrez
Reborn by the Sunshine are happy to be in the grey area of music. The idea of a borderless pursuit of music is a lost art. If I was interrogated and made to categorize the RBTS sound, I would come to the decision that the moniker Desert Americana be created to help guide listeners in determining their potential interest.
After receiving and listening to an advanced copy of the final master of their debut EP, These Old Feelin’s, I realized what has been missing in our desert music community. What’s lacking are the nostalgic and sentimental American Roots songs that make up Americana music.
Americana is a sanctuary for musical creativity as we cycle(d) through an unsettlement for mainstream pop music. I’ve read that Americana has become one of the biggest selling genres of music in recent years. This improved understanding and growth makes an EP like These Old Feelin’s even more meaningful for our region where we can begin to acknowledge those artists who may like a place to call home.
All songs on the EP were written and produced by James Dorris and Brett McLaughlin. Engineered by Nathan Sabatino at Hi-Dez Recording in Joshua Tree, CA and mastered by Pete Lyman of Infrasonic Sound in Nashville, TN. You will be able to download the EP on all major music platforms on 4/26/19 as well as purchase CDs or LPs at the These Old Feelin’s EP release show on the same date at Big Rock Pub. The show is free and features support from Rick Shelley and the Desert Dogs and The Adobe Collective.
Once you purchase your download, CD or LP, play it back to read and sing along with the lyrics below. My short review of each song precedes the lyrics.
If you like The Eagles, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and especially early Aerosmith (special salute to their first-ever single Mama Kin) you will love this song. The strategic background vocals are on point. There’s a great little breakdown prior to the last chorus. The sound of these old feelins are bound to produce new good ones.
Key line: “There’s no reason…there’s no rhyme…to these old feelin’s”
THESE OLD FEELIN’S
Been a long road back to these old feelin’s, buried a long time ago
Lived a lonesome life for way too long, now I’m ready just to let it go
This time will be different
This time it won’t blow
There’s no telling with shotgun living and that’s just the way it goes
THERE’S NO REASON // THERE’S NO RHYME
TO THESE OLD FEELIN’S
Been a long time coming to realize life was just a shit show
At the crossroads time and time again with nowhere left to go
This time was different
This time felt right
There’s no telling with shotgun living and that’s just what I like
I’ll just live my life!
THERE’S NO REASON // THERE’S NO RHYME
TO THESE OLD FEELIN’S, BUT MIGHT I SAY
THESE OLD FEELIN’S ARE FEELIN’
Damn Right
This song is a throwback type of song. I can visualize Natural Born Heartbreaker on a compilation album that would fit nicely between an Emmylou Harris tune and Steve Earle track.
Key line: “I’ll hold nothing back and take it slow”
NATURAL BORN HEARTBREAKER
I’ve made nothing, but trouble on my own
And this old engine has got to go
I’m a ramblin’ fool with dirt in my veins
I keep changing, but I stay the same
LIVING A LIFE OF LOVE AIN’T EASY BABY
WHEN YOU’RE BORN TO BREAK HEARTS
Write me off for dead and leave me to the crows
Throw me out like a cigarette on the side of the road
Soul of a snake in the dry desert weeds
This town ain’t ready for the broken hearts I’ll leave
LIVING A LIFE OF LOVE AIN’T EASY BABY
WHEN YOU’RE BORN TO BREAK HEARTS
When I fire it up and your heart explodes
I’ll hold nothing back and take it slow
This is the magic baby, Right from the start
Then I’ll send you towing a heavy heart
LIVING A LIFE OF LOVE AIN’T EASY BABY
WHEN YOU’RE BORN TO BREAK HEARTS
The ballad of the four-song EP. The mood-altering slide guitar is mesmerizing. Also has the most country-feel (sorry JD). When you can declare that you are that person who wants the entire kit and caboodle of what life can be, you proclaim who you are.
Key line: “I want my family to have the happiness stories tell”
WHO I AM
I’ve been alone and I’ve been lost for quite some time
Had enough, but it ain’t enough simply getting by
No it ain’t enough just being another soul
On the cusp of wasting away
And lately, I’ve been feelin’ like
Nothing’s good enough
I want it all or nothing, The sky as my ceiling
EVERYBODY WANTS SOMETHING
EVERYBODY WANTS WHAT THEY CAN’T HAVE
CALL IT GREED, CALL IT LUST, OR CALL IT ENVY
IT’S WHO I AM
I WANT IT ALL OR NOTHING
I want my family to have the happiness stories tell
And when the weight of the world gets heavy
I hope they send straight back down to hell
Love and loss can be what drives one to succeed
But there’s a yearning in my soul
This emptiness I hold
EVERYBODY WANTS SOMETHING
EVERYBODY WANTS WHAT THEY CAN’T HAVE
CALL IT GREED, CALL IT LUST, OR CALL IT ENVY
IT’S WHO I AM
I WANT IT ALL OR NOTHING
SINK OR SWIM
I WANT IT ALL OR NOTHING
GOOD AND BAD
I WANT IT ALL OR NOTHING
The closer is right on, both lyrically and in tone. The song closes with the idealist message of “…it might be just right in the end”. There’s a hope within this song that despite turbulent times, there is a Promised Land to seek out for each one of us.
Key line: “And when it’s done…And my times up…I hope I ride into the sun”
WILD SIDE
Live and you learn, Crash and you burn
Till you feel it, In your bones
Do as you’re told, You may grow old
And wish it all, Would just go away
When I was young
I lived for the fun that I’d find out in the wild
Then I was told
The world ain’t-that slow so cover up
It’s gonna get cold
ON THIS RIDE // THERE’S A WILD SIDE
MAY BRING YOU TROUBLE // MAY BRING YOU PAIN
BUT IT MIGHT BE JUST RIGHT IN THE END
When I am old
I hope that I hold onto the good times in my mind
And when it’s done
And my times up
I hope I ride into the sun
ON THIS RIDE // THERE’S A WILD SIDE
MAY BRING YOU TROUBLE // MAY BRING YOU PAIN
BUT IT MIGHT BE JUST RIGHT IN THE END
