First Listen: Track 3, Love's Despair

First Listen: Track 3, Love's Despair

The idea for this track came up a few years ago.  This song was actually not written by me.  It’s by my friend, Mary Cutrufello.  Mary and I first met in 2004, although I was a fan of her music before that.  We kept running into each other in strange places between here and Texas, and quickly became friends.  We now work together whenever time and scheduling allow. 

She wrote this song way back in ’96, and released it on her 2010 disc entitled Acoustic EP.  Her version is very slow and gritty.  It’s visceral.  I have always loved the idea, the arrangement, the delivery, the everything of this song.  Her version is haunting, desperate. The feeling of the character singing the song really comes through in spades.

Since the first time I heard it though, I’ve wanted to do it as a shuffle.  Just to see if it would work.  I had a vision for an uptempo, Texas swing meets flat tire shuffle approach, and I just wasn’t gonna be happy until I got to try it.  I knew it had to have old-school pedal steel, and honky tonk piano.  I just knew that stuff was going to put it where I wanted it.

Musically, a Texas country shuffle is a very different style from a blues shuffle, or any other kind of shuffle.  It’s my most very favorite groove to play bass on, as it has a feel all it’s own.  It has to bounce, because it’s straight up dance music.  Unlike a lot of dance music though, it doesn’t bounce in one place.  The up-beats on the snare drum and rhythm guitar, coupled with the “four on the floor” kick drum that locks in with that unique bass groove, constantly propel it forward.  It’s a driving rhythm that’s still laid back and grooving at the same time.  It doesn’t happen in quite the same way anywhere else in popular music.

Dan Morris (pedal steel) and Chris Hanna (piano) really drove the point home on this one.  They took it straight back to 1963.  Their parts knock me out every time I listen to this track.  Jon Darling (drums) locked in so nicely with my bass on this one too.  It’s one of my favorite tracks on the record, because these guys just really played it well.

First Listen: Track 3, Love's Despair

"I've only been lucky enough to be covered a handful of times. It's hard to express how good it feels, whether you know the covering artist or not. In this case, GS is one of my best friends, and a Texan to boot, so this is really special for me. I love how he shuffles this tune. He puts it right on the dance floor, where it belongs." - Mary Cutrufello