Well this just made my damn day.
Charles Wesley Godwin has been heavy in my music rotation since the release of his debut album, Seneca, back in 2019.
If you’re not familiar with Charles, he’s a West Virginia native with a booming voice that sounds like it’s echoing through a coal mine, and an incredible ability to capture the soul of an entire state and region in his songwriting.
And now he’s back to do it again.
Charles announced today that his sophomore album, How The Mighty Fall, will be released on November 5th.
Talking about the new album, Charles says the tracks were inspired by little, everyday moments in his own life that led him to ultimately put pen to paper:
“For brevity’s sake, I’ll just say that the songs on ‘How The Mighty Fall’ all have to do with the overarching theme of mortality.
Beneath that, it deals with what it is to live a full life with no regret, to live to the max, that it’s never too late to try and right the ship no matter how far you may have fallen.”
Charles has been teasing new music on his YouTube channel and at live shows lately, like the debut track from the new album, “Lyin’ Low,” which Charles says is about stepping back and getting your priorities straight:
“Lyin’ Low” is about being content in life.
It’s about stepping back, focusing on the things that really matter and trying my best to stay out of the rat race & the never-ending desire for more.
I have a home, a family, a culture and I get to write songs and sing them for a living. I love what I do.
Why kill myself chasing more and more? “Lyin’ Low” is my way of getting my priorities straight.”
There’s also “Strong,” a resilient ode to overcoming adversity (and some brilliant wordsmith to work Olympic distance runner Steve Prefontaine’s name into a song).
And the title track, “How the Mighty Fall,” about the inescapable truth that even the strongest among us will eventually grow old and fall.
But the one I’m most excited about is the haunting “Jesse,” which Charles says was inspired by some graffiti he saw on a morning run:
“I ran underneath an old bridge with three stone columns that had graffiti all over them. As I ran by, I scanned the various spray paintings and statements made on the stone.
There was one in particular that jumped out at me. Written in red, so matter-of-factly, with no attempt to fancy up the words, was the line, “Are you thinking of me like I’m thinking of you?”
I thought on those words the rest of my run and began to fantasize about who that might be about. Soon thereafter, “Jesse” was started.”
This is gonna be a damn good one folks, so mark your calendars.
