2019 Contenders... And Thank You

I'd like to say thank you to everybody who left a supportive comment after Monday's post. I know I'm being particularly vague about why things are pretty stressful at the moment - beyond job issues which I've alluded to but don't want to go into more detail about, for making things worse. There is something else that's causing me sleepless nights but I should be more able to talk about that, one way or another, next week. Until then, your good wishes are much appreciated here, and reflected back upon you all. It's good to have friends, even though I've never met any of you. And thank especially to John, who offered to meet up for a coffee - unfortunately, those damned work commitments have me chained to a (metaphorical) blackboard for the foreseeable, but that was much appreciated too.

Today's latest contender for my albums of the year is the latest record from Midland. A country record, yet it isn't cool Americana nor shiny, cheesy Nashville pop-country. It's a bar band record, good-time country rock, and as with their last album, there's a huge debt to the Eagles... though whether Midland have a trippy, pretentiously epic (in a good way) Hotel California in their future has yet to be seen. At the moment, they're content playing the Heartache Tonight / Take It Easy game, with the odd splash of... whisper it, so as not to offend the musos... Dr. Hook.

The video's fun, but it does kind of detract from the story of the song...