Terry Blade
Won’t Be Around
Too many “musicians” would look at this song and say, “man, that’s dope, I’m gonna cover it.” Internally, they’ll be like - dude, it’s two chords and the blues (basically), I can do it. Then, they’ll try it live one day and fall flat on their face. Why? Because they can’t sell it. They can’t portray the emotion behind it. “Simple” songs like this are always the hardest to digest and perform. Ask me to cover Steely Dan or Rush, no problem. That’s surgical. Ask me to cover this, I don’t think I could do it justice.
Terry Blade is an award winning singer-songwriter originally from DC who now resides in Chicago. Listening to his work you’ll hear Blues, R&B, Soul and a bit of Americana. Read his bio and it’s not hard to see where the passion in his voice is coming from, and what he’s fighting for. His voice can be as powerful as the Delta Blues, or as soulful as Sam Cooke. I don’t even think it’s a stretch to say I can hear a bit of Etta (I’d Rather Go Blind) or Nina (I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free) in his phrasing and tone. He can conjure the tones up in a modern R&B setting, or a stripped down blues feel like this song - “Won’t Be Around” - with ease. Here’s my review.
Track starts with a bare acoustic riff in E minor - single note approach. Tone is crisp and clear - perfect EQ and barely a hint of anything else. BPM is hovering around 68. When his baritone comes in, it’s got grit and it’s backed by the acoustic and some simple chords on the piano favoring my right speaker. Love the voicings - mainly treble and simple - nothing extravagant. On the third line, a bass comes in to help the build, and the feel doesn’t change, but it’s definitely more angsty as the overall EQ has expanded. As the lyrics progresses and get heavier, more notes come into play on the piano and guitar, but it’s subtle. With the fifth line, another acoustic line drops in in the upper register to add more chords and flavor, but again, the simplicity stays the same while he gently builds the pressure. The addition of reverb to that second guitar is a nice touch - it makes the song bigger.
Love how when the first stanza is coming to a close, he strips it back down to just the first acoustic, only to start building it up again with the piano and some additional guitar licks. At this point, it’s almost like a séance, and he employs it again when he comes to the head / end of stanza - it’s a great way to get the main point across. It’s hard to tell if that main acoustic riff is live or copy & pasted - but I couldn’t care. The feel is perfect and it matches the message of the lyrics - “I’ve no more to give you, I won’t be around.” Lastly, I say how much I love the piano fills in octaves - very tasty. I really appreciate how complex this song is in its simplicity, and that’s what makes it so special.
I hope you’ll give this track a listen with your patient and critical ear, and share it with all your friends who love the blues. It is vastly important that songs like this get noticed and appreciated - not for what they have in them, per se, but for what they don’t. Too many musicians play too many notes, sing too many phrases, use too many words. There’s beauty in simplicity - it’s the most natural form of writing there is. Whenever I hear a song like this, it actually reminds me of nature. When it’s simple, it’s beautiful. When it becomes to much, it destroys itself for the greater good. Beautiful track, Terry! I see it’s already got 10K streams in the first four days, here’s to many more!
Check it out now!