The Feels

I officially fell in love with music beneath the bright fluorescent lights of a Hastings record store back in the days when cassette tapes and CD's still battled for shelf space. The year was 1993 and the store had a display of music set up with a bank of headphones. I'd grown up listing to music, mostly country because I did come into this world in rural Texas, but yes rock, jazz, punk, zydeco, rockabilly, folk, and all other manner of assorted labels of   bands did and do speak to me. But I don’t think I had matured enough to stop and truly listen to music and put it all together until that day in Hastings, when I stepped up to that promotional rack of new country releases. Wynona, maybe Marty Stuart, Brooks and Dunn and possibly a Garth Brooks release made up most of the offerings. I can't remember for sure. Mark Chesnutt might have been in the mix, but what I can tell you, is there was one, and only one artist on that promotional end-cap that I'd never

Hanibal is better known as a DJ Prodigy. He worked along with DJ Khaled for years until an injury put Hanibal’s career on hold, but now he’s back with a powerful message.  This track spoke to me instantly. The gravel in the vocals and the simple, but emotional lyrics all accompanied by a haunting guitar melody combined to make me feel every word, beat, and strum. Ella gives humanity to a subject that far too often is dehumanized and used as a political tool to bludgeon the opposing side. Yes, that criticism goes both ways. This song speaks of hope and despair all at the same time. And does it well.  Give the video a watch,  or follow The Feels Spotify Playlist to hear all of the songs featured here in this blog.

Good music is about emotion. The simplicity of a good beat can be enough to put a little bounce in your step, but it takes more to dig deep into the psyche. Music is the art that distills feelings into bite-sized chunks, and at its very best, music transcends beyond the simple mirroring of emotions by revealing things we've never quite understood before. Musical greatness reveals something new. It teaches, enlightens, and allows people to empathize by offering a glimpse into the soul of others. Often music can do this unobtrusively through the power of melody and words, as well as the universal truths of humanity. Such is the case with Hemingway , an album by Dan Johnson on State Fair Records . The album is a contemporary masterpiece that pays homage to humanity, as well as Johnson’s musical and literary influences. Hemingway unfurls over a mere five songs. Such projects can feel incomplete, but not this one. And while the interwoven stories do leave you wanting mor