The Blue Winter
I Don’t Wanna Be Sad Anymore
Heartland America has always had a different blend of rock. The BoDeans. Big Head Todd & the Monsters. The James Gang. The Pretenders. The Jayhawks. When you listen to them, there’s more warmth and storytelling in their work, than there is flash and bite. There’s more honesty than show. Their music tends to surround you like the weather, rather than bask you in the “sunshine” of the artist’s “brilliance” of their coastal take on life. We’ve always been more fond of them than coastal bands, and I think we found an absolute gem.
The Blue Winter is a band from Ohio. Lead singer and writer Aaron is the spearhead of this project, with Ben Roth jumping in on drums and arranging. Here’s our review of “I Don’t Wanna Be Sad Anymore”.
Track starts with a downstroke pattern to set the pulse. Love the pattern it creates, and when the drums come in they drop on an unexpected phrase and fill that surprises us. It’s an odd pattern that you should try and count out - good stuff. When Aaron starts the verse, the ambiance he creates by the chord choice and melody beautifully opens up the track to a host of possibilities. He’s joined by a simple beat and bass line, letting the guitar parts help build the intensity with three different parts and a beautiful description of the trials his love is going through. We’re struck right away with the unique timbre of his voice, he’s fortunate to have such a tone - I can’t think of anyone else he sounds like - and it’s highlighted with the final phrase of the first verse before the chorus.
With the chorus the track opens wider and we love love love the second chord. Jumping to that major three is such a cool trick - and the use of the 136-4 progression for the first section is such a great choice. Hook is solid and memorable. Guitar tones are perfect. Production leaves just the right amount of room for everybody. Really wonderful work here. The lyrics are achingly honest and hopeful, and the chord progression that turns us out to the verse is another great choice. Aaron knows how to craft a compelling track.
Second verse… love that Rhodes vibe to add some depth. Great way to add intensity without making the mix cloudy. Great build up into the second chorus again, and by now we’re singing along. With the bridge, we really dig the way the Rhodes pattern speaks to what the lyrics are saying - we won’t give it away here - you’ll need to go listen. Nice addition of the walking bass line - not to sparse, not too heavy. Then we get to a thick and tasty slide solo that highlight’s Aaron’s tasty chops. Intro to the last round of choruses starts as a drop-out, giving us a chance to catch out breathe and he and Ben do a great job of adding in just the right touch of accents to make the last two rounds a little more exciting. Can’t say enough about how well this was written, arranged, performed and recorded.
Lastly, we’ll say that you definitely need to go check out the video for this track - it’s wonderful - looks like they did it all in one shot.
Make sure you scroll down and check out their socials, and great first record. A favorite of ours off of Volume 1 is “California // Ohio” and “Run Away.” There’s a brilliant line in “Run Away” that stopped me in my tracks - “the very worst thing that I am fearing is riding in a car that I’m not steering.” Damn. They’ve also done a great job of creating some compelling videos and don’t take themselves to seriously in their posts. Love this band - we can’t wait to see what they’ll do next.