I’ve always said, the mark of a great songwriter is making your audience feel like they’re apart of your music by being able to picture the scenes of the lyrics in your head like a movie.
Another key ingredient is authenticity. When you can feel the emotion and grit coming out of the singers voice in the song, you know it’s hitting home and coming from the bottom of their heart.
With that being said, let me introduce you to Tony Logue, a Western Kentucky native who labels himself as a “blend of Americana, Country Folk and Heartland Rock n’ Roll.”
He loves to write about personal life experiences that have shaped him into the man he is today, much like Kentucky legends Chris Knight, Tyler Childers, and Sturgill Simpson.
The man dropped a new single last week titled “Calloway County,” a deep-cutting song that cuts straight to the cold hard truth about growing up with an abusive father, and how he’s doing everything he possibly can to not follow in his footsteps.
The song immediately grabs your attention, as it opens about a story of a fight that turned physical with his father, after he tried to break him for the very last time:
Daddy just stood there with blood on his face
I let the screen door slam
Mama said ‘boy don’t you leave here this way’
And I told her I don’t give a damn
He was stiff necked and sharp like a razor
And he knew how to light my fuse
For years I just stuffed all my anger
With a right hand I turned it all loose
That’s when that gorgeous fiddle comes in, as Logue continues to sing about how he wishes he didn’t have his father’s blood.
In the chorus, he makes a wish to his hometown, hoping it will set him free from the sins of his father:
“Calloway County, Lord turn me loose, Lord set me free
Rip up the roots of my raisin’ and chop down, this family tree.”
Talk about a song that will make you feel every emotion possible, from despair, to hope.
Check it out, you won’t regret it:
And the stripped-down, acoustic version:
