#8 - JOHN MORELAND - HIGH ON TULSA HEAT (RJ'S TOP 10 AMERICANA/COUNTRY ALBUMS OF THE YEAR)

artist website - johnmoreland.net

Musicians - Mostly John Moreland

Producer - John Moreland

Released - April 21, 2015

If you've never heard John Moreland before, it's about time you check him out. As you can see from the above information, he pretty much does it all, including more than likely mailing out your CD. Funny thing is, he started of in punk and hardcore or metalcore bands. But his dad was a big fan of Steve Earle, and Moreland was soon in the Americana fold. Which suits him well.

I'm not gonna go song to song. What I'm gonna tell you is that Moreland sounds like one of the saddest singers you'll ever hear. And that's not a bad thing at all. In fact, that's what makes him so appealing. He is as vulnerable as you'll ever hear. He alternates between simple acoustic tunes and tunes with a band, as in drums and some electric guitar and maybe a touch of keyboards here and there. But that's not what draws you in. Like I said before, it's his vulnerability. You feel for him. You wanna just tell him it's gonna be alright. Oh yeah, he's a pretty good lyricist too. My favorite lyric comes from my favorite song, Losing Sleep Tonight. The lyric is "Are you busy serving sentences for prodigals and priests/drowning in the sea of tears your crying/are you worried that your happier at war, than at peace/baby are you losing sleep tonight, like I am".

So if you like songs that in some way pull at the hearstrings, you owe it to yourself to check out High On Tulsa Heat by John Moreland.

Tracks:

1. Hang Me In The Tulsa County Stars

2. Heart's Too Heavy

3. Cleveland County Blues

4. White Flag

5. Sad Baptist Rain

6. Cherokee

7. Losing Sleep Tonight

8. American Flags In Black & White

9. You Don't Care For Me Enough To Cry

10. High On Tulsa Heat