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SONG DESCRIPTIONS by Jason Howe
HEAVEN IS MY RETIREMENT PLAN: This song was inspired by the recent condition of the economy and the sad state of my 401(k) balance. It’s kind of a mid-tempo song that has a 70’s outlaw country feel to it (especially the bass line) mixed with blue-grass type harmonies, which I think goes really well with the subject matter of the song.
KISS MY GRITS: This is off our Live EP. I wrote this when I was trying to get up the courage to play at an open mic night. Somehow feeling antagonistic helped.
ROUND & ROUND: This song is basically a fun song that means absolutely nothing. Musically it is pop rock influenced by Weezer and the Foo Fighters. At the time of our first record I had a bunch of rock songs and then I had these songs that had country feel to them, which I really liked. So our first record has rock songs and then what I called “country punk” songs. Song that have a country feel, but are fast and sometimes have distorted guitar. We called the first album Rock ‘n Roll Country, which has a double meaning. Another interesting thing is that this was the last song we recorded for the album, and I really liked the way it turned out and because of the energy decided to have it lead off the album. This I later regretted as I would have preferred to have more of a country sounding song lead off the album since we were calling ourselves “country punk.”
I’M REAL PUNK: Another fun, fast pop punk song. This was the first song I wrote after getting my Epiphone Les Paul guitar. It turned out really well due in large part to being recorded by my brother Jeremy at Grand Valley State University’s recording studio where he was a student at the time. This song was used in a network TV show. Check out the video clip on our video page.
SHE DON’T COME ‘ROUND HERE NO MORE: A song about the muse, when after a dry spell I wondered if I’d ever write another song again and decided not to worry about it. And voila! A new song.
I HAVE A DREAM: This song really started to bring the country and rock elements together. I think it sounds better live, but oh well. The first verse used to say, “My choices have brought me down the wrong road, so here I am bitter with a heavy load.” Then I heard my kids singing it so I re-wrote it. It was written when I hated my job and my dream was to play in a band and sing full time. It still is my dream, but I have learned to deal with it (for the most part). The chorus came from a psalm.
DRUNKEN COWBOY: When we were first married, I accidentally stumbled over a fan and Jeri joked that I looked like an old drunken cowboy. So I turned it into a country, gospel song. The people at the bars love this one.
WISH LIST: My first “Johnny Cash style” song. About where I was storing my treasure.
SOUL SCREAMIN’: One of the first songs I ever wrote actually, inspired by the lead singer of a band wearing a t-shirt with a Joker playing card, except the joker was replaced by Jesus. He also screamed a lot and was very anti-religion (anti-Christian anyway). Every time I sing this song, it is a prayer for that guy. A very loud prayer.
SUNDAY PAPER: Another country, gospel song.
DEAR JOHN: A song about John Lennon that in the end is really about Jesus. The live version on Live EP is more of a rock version, faster and harder. In the end I scream like Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters.
ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS: I wanted to write a story song that captured how little things can lead to larger consequences, even if they’re little. Specifically addressing the lie that, “It doesn’t hurt anything to look!” I hear that all the time.
