I have for you today a live performance with lyrics of the title track of my upcoming record “Literally Main Street”! If you’ve had to hide who you are and how you feel, for reasons big or small, this song is for you. While we were shooting the “Ding Dong Scrambled Eggs” music video our director, Dan Fromhart, wanted to “grab something else” in the kitchen of the studio. He meant another look for the video, I thought he meant a whole bonus song. After we cleared up the confusion he was kind enough to indulge me and here we are. I’m really proud of the lyrics on this one so I wrote them out by hand and threw them up there—never thought my chicken scratch would be useful but I think the scrappiness suits this vibe. The album itself is literally called ‘Literally Main Street.’ It’s Anderson’s main street, his friends and loved ones, but the sentiments created can be found within any individual, sometimes in glimmers and other times in bounds.
I’ve talked at some length about this album exploring the town I grew up in, the characters I grew up with, and where life took them in the past 20 years or so. I think it’s only fair that one of those characters gets to be me :). There’s a lot of mystery and superstition around white lighters–smokers and stoners the world over seem to think they’re bad luck. This is in part because of a (I’m sure erroneous) rumor that famous musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain had them in their pockets when they died. As someone now firmly older than those folks I wanted to write a song about the trails and tribulations, but also the virtues and joys, of still grinding on your little band into your 30s. It’s a song about keeping the dream alive and keeping things that are precious to you at the center of your life despite the literal and figurative costs. However it manifests in your life, I hope you are all keeping the white lighter lit.
I’ve talked at some length about how this album explores the town I grew up in, the characters I grew up with, and where life took them in the past 20 years or so. I think it’s only fair that one of those characters gets to be me. There’s a lot of mystery and superstition around white lighters–smokers and stoners the world over seem to think they’re bad luck. This is in part because of a (I’m sure erroneous) rumor that famous musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain had them in their pockets when they died.
Sometimes the things that stick with us are not lightning quick and powerful, but slow wheeling, calculated and intricately placed. It may take a little longer to realize what’s in front of you, but with the right view, a slower and less predictable path reveals much more than you ever could have imagined.
Singer/songwriter Eric Anderson, the Idaho native who is the voice and mind behind Seattle-based band Cataldo, knows the potency of a slow building storm, and he knows exactly how to craft and release his own tempest — the most recent being his newest album ‘Literally Main Street,’ out September. 27th. And, like a bird above the storm, he reflects on things with a particularly unique view, perched far above but still with plain sight of everything below.
The Fat Angel Sings 