Hello. I bet you woke up today and wondered if you could ever make a guiro (I had to look up the name) solo sound good with a country vibe. I am here to tell you that Zach Jones has penned a song with a great guiro solo. It’s called “Lonesome and Blue.”
Jones is no stranger to impeccable songwriting and creative production. He’s had a decade of experience as a sideman (Sting, Elle King) and a producer (A Great Big World, Jenny Owen Youngs). “Lonesome and Blue” is in infectious bop that calls to mind Roy Orbison’s chaste earnestness — but with a sharper twist. The song has a wry sensibility that keeps one foot planted in the present — though the obvious joy that comes through in the band’s playing is timeless.
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| Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez |
It was co-written, co-produced, recorded, and mixed — in mono — by Paul Loren, a gifted artist in his own right and a fellow devotee of the rock ‘n’ roll records of yesterday. The song’s buoyant and effortless groove is a happy byproduct of the kinship among Jones, Loren, and the Tricky Bits: Brian Killeen, Oscar Albis Rodriguez, and Hannah Winkler (The Weird Years).
“This particular song is an homage to the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, and the Four Seasons,” Jones tells me. “The theme of the song is that sense of regret (i.e. did-I-totally-fuck-this-up) that comes with ending a relationship, and it’s filtered through that lens of the great rock ‘n’ roll of the ‘50s and ‘60s.” Jones says, “I never aim to operate in nostalgia, but those records and sounds are so real and so vital to me that I wanted to tip my hat to them while still striving to make something fresh.”
Zach Jones & The Tricky Bits — Bandcamp