|
Notes about the songs as seen by Ronnie
“Not Today”
This was the first song that we ever worked on as a group.
Marty had the chord progression and he introduced it to the band.
We jammed on it on a Sunday afternoon and recorded it on a
portable studio. That evening, I drove back to Nashville thinking
about a subject. It just sounded so swampy and sinister. I knew
someone had to die in this song, so I thought to myself, “How could
you get revenge without getting caught?” The result is a “bad tooth,
hillbilly love song about love gone wrong.”
Livin’ Proof
Benny Huntt had this bluesy gem in his pocket. The guys worked
out the arrangement and their parts and we recorded it on the
portable studio. I was in my home studio listening to it over and
over, and “Livin’ Proof” just popped in my head. I admit, I was
drinking Jack Daniels at the time. We all wanted to steer away
from the “baby, baby” songs cause we’re just not “baby, baby”
kind of guys. The idea of friendship aging like fine whiskey was
what we were hoping to hit on.
Old Fashioned Ass-Whoopin’ Sum Bitch
Marty called me with this title. He was so fired up about this
musical idea that he had. When we all got together, it was
clear that this musical idea kicked major ass, so the lyrics had
to be worthy of the groove. I had a bunch of bad ideas before
I settled on Marty’s initial suggestion for a title. This song tells
the story of four generations of men that stand up for themselves.
There’s a little bit of every Preacher Stone Member in this song.
That’s Just The Whiskey Talkin’
Like most of our songs, this song started as a cool music piece
with a infectious groove and a sleazy feel. Marty & Benny really hit a
homerun on this one. The events in this song are based
on stories that a truer than you can imagine. I won’t point fingers,
but we all can relate to letting the whiskey speak on our behalf. I
will take the fifth as my defense.
Homegrown Hoedown
Marty had this musical piece that everybody was calling
“Shortnin’ Bread.” From bread, I thought of “Shake and Bake.”
Now understand that I was the “new guy” in the early stages of
Preacher Stone. I was trying to prove myself and still getting
to know everyone. Well they thought that my idea SUCKED, but
no one had told me. So, our bass player says, “Man, those lyrics
in the chorus REALLY suck!” just smiled and said, “Don’t hold back,
I want to know what you really think!” I still laugh when I think
of that. We all kicked around ideas and decided on the party in
the pasture idea. It’s fun song.
Tractor Pull
Marty comes up with this hellacious guitar riff. He calls me
late one night and plays it for me and tells me that the title is
“Tractor Pull.” I accepted the challenge. I thought of some
tractor pull terms and used them for the lyrics. Some people
have suggested that the song is dirty, but I don’t know about
all that. I just wrote it about a girl that loves tractor pulls.
Blood From A Stone
Marty and Benny came up with this blues tune. We recorded
it using the portable studio. I took it home and played it over
and over while I cleaned my studio. In the middle of cleaning
I stopped and recorded the vocal on the portable unit. The
words just came out. It just happened. I don’t think anyone
had planned on using it on the recorded. The next time we
rehearsed, we played through it and just looked at each other
like, “Hell yeah! That’ll work!”
Southern Hospitality
This was an old Phantom Park tune that they never recorded.
The chorus was already written by the guys, (Benny and Marty
were in Phantom Park) so I just took the title and
the chorus and wrote verses for the song. The song is symbolic
in the sense that we all have “come home” to our roots in this band.
Mother To Bed
Love can suck! Marty had this all worked out and the title
was suggested. I love working with other people’s title ideas.
We tried to cover all the frustration in a relationship that
is caught in a loop.
Brother’s Keeper
Another Marty Hill idea. It was election time and the air was
politically charged, so a social statement was inevitable. That’s
beauty of Preacher Stone. We call it like we see it.
|
