|
Post by Admin on Jun 21, 2020 23:54:00 GMT
While the group shows great depth across their Blue Roses album thus far, they've just released one kind of radio single. Now established as proudly independent women, Naomi Cooke and company reveal more well-rounded emotions during a song good enough to be considered for all the annual pageants. Ross Copperman, Nicolle Galyon and Ashley Gorley (three of Nashville's finest commercial songwriters) wrote "We Were Rich," but it's Cooke's lead vocals and her band's quiet harmonies that resonate. The group has learned that not all members need to be given an equal showcase on every song. It's fine to take turns and best when one member emerges as lead. It's worth noting that Galyon also helped write Miranda Lambert's "Automatic," a song from 2014 that many will fairly compare to "We Were Rich." Both roll along to windshield wiper time while listing old touchstones gone but not forgotten. It's an approach still underused in country music. As country music fans, we never grow tired of looking back with a tear in our eye. Runaway June, "We Were Rich" Lyrics: Reynolds wrap, old rabbit ears / TV tray, back in the day we'd watch 'The Wonder Years' / Old Wagoneer, wood panel doors / We wore out our old jeans that were faded from the store / And that old couch / We'd pull the cushions off if we found 50 cents / We'd go crazy, we thought we were rich. One bathroom sink, we'd all take turns / Once a week, go out to eat for pizza after church / And that old church, red carpet floors / Same old navy paisley tie Daddy always wore / And we'd sing hymns / They'd pass the plate when it was time to give / They'd put in a twenty, I thought we were rich. Chorus: We didn't have it all but we all thought we did / And Mama always said that we were blessed and I believed her / I never thought the grass was greener / On the other side of our old chain link fence / Yeah, we were rich. I never saw New York / Never took a plane / Once a year we'd drive out to the nearest KOA / And we'd light a fire / Stare at the stars / And play flashlight tag with the people in the tent there next to ours / Time of our lives, we had as much as all the other kids / Maybe that's why we thought we were rich.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jun 22, 2020 5:26:52 GMT
“I might be heart broke, but that don’t mean I gotta stay home,” sings Runaway June’s Naomi Cooke in the country trio’s sprightly hit single “Buy My Own Drinks,” obliterating any expectations that she might be the type to waste time crying over someone. Cooke, along with singing partners Hannah Mulholland and Jennifer Wayne (the granddaughter of the Duke himself) are bound to get some Dixie Chicks comparisons with their brand of harmony-drenched country-pop, but their debut album Blue Roses offers plenty to distinguish them from that multi-Platinum trio. As a vocalist, de facto leader Cooke’s delivery is more coastal cool than hard twang — she employs a softer tone in the short-on-money, big-on-love ballad “We Were Rich,” but belts with power in the breakup saga “Trouble With This Town,” blending beautifully with Mullholland and Wayne throughout. There’s a very contemporary spirit of independence and grown-ass agency that courses through these songs, like the confident assertion made in “I Know the Way” (“to un-break your heart,” directed at a guy who suddenly finds himself single) or the unguarded rush of physical desire described in “Got Me Where I Want You.” They come off playfully defiant on “Head Over Heels,” rebuffing a drunk-dialing ex who has one thing on his mind, and then mournful on “I Am Too,” turning the blame for wrecking a good thing inward. Runaway June’s original compositions like “Head Over Heels” and “Buy My Own Drinks” are loaded with clever turns of phrase and ear-catching hooks, but they also prove themselves to be skilled interpreters of outside material, from the sweet nostalgia of “We Were Rich” (penned by Music Row pros Ross Copperman, Ashley Gorley, and Nicolle Galyon) to their spicy cover of Dwight Yoakam’s “Fast as You.” The title track, which closes the album, is a true stunner: a swooning, stripped-down slice of epic heartbreak that evokes the immortal Trio collaboration of Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt. It’s a clear link to country music’s past, but it sounds precisely of the moment.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 6, 2020 6:17:20 GMT
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Runaway June was promoting "Head Over Heels," an empowering song about walking away from a late-night relationship, as the band's next single. But when everything paused, the country trio knew they wanted to make a change, pivoting to the nostalgic "We Were Rich," which fondly recalls a childhood rich in things that money can't buy. "It was kind of obvious actually for us," group member Naomi Cooke told PopCulture.com of the switch.
"When COVID hit, overnight ['Head Over Heels'] was not connecting anymore to our audience, to us. It was kind of an irrelevant song that no one really needed," she said. "And we thought about that — and it really matters to us to be artists and take on the responsibility to know the difference and to be like, 'Okay, this isn't... Our audience isn't connecting with this.' It's our responsibility to give them something that they can connect with that they feel connected to that helps them get through a certain time. We felt like 'We Were Rich' could do that. So, we pulled that other single, we switched them out, and it was one of the best decisions we've made."
Cooke explained that it was "important" to her and bandmates Jennifer Wayne and Natalie Stovall to give listeners a song "that would make them remember a simpler time and to remind them that there are still more good times and simpler times to be had."
"People are loving this song," she shared. "We're seeing like childhood photos of our fans, and they're sending in stories of when they felt like they were rich as kids. It's been fun for our families to send us our baby photos and all these conversations and memories being brought up and it's literally kind of elevated a time that's felt really low and really hard and scary. It's like, man, for a few minutes in a conversation, you're talking about being on the trampoline with your siblings. You forget your troubles. It's really, really powerful that music can do that."
|
|