Three Outstanding Singer Songwriters

Three Outstanding Singer Songwriters

When it comes to writing good music, artists have to not only discover something within themselves “worth saying” but they also have to make us, the listeners, feel it too. That’s an astonishingly difficult task. Then music critics (ew, gross) come along and criticize the chords, the melody, the vocals, and pretty much every little detail of it. At the end of the day, so much has gone into the project that it hardly seems fair that it’s only two and a half minutes of someone bearing their soul for you to say, “yeah, me too.” But the fact that you say it, makes all the work worthwhile. Ask any creative – it’s just a drug, that’s all. Here are three songwriters that pass the critics test and have something to say. Hear them out, will ya?

Dylan Aiello – “Leaving Everything”
-Wait until the second line and you’ll absolutely think you’re listening to James Taylor. It’s so uncanny, I had to double check the credits. This really is another man named Dylan Aiello and he’s outstanding. The composition has a bit more of a jazz influence than Taylor, but his inflection and even guitar style all fit the great “JT” to a “t.” The song’s quite a story, too.

Pat Kennedy – “Morning Dress”
-Pat Kennedy’s songwriting is fluid and engaging. The rolling acoustic guitar both puts me to sleep and fires me up. I really enjoy the full strings on this recording, giving deeper textures to Kennedy’s already stellar writing. The song is about going home (like most good literature), but it’s also about conflict and confusion (like most of life). It’s a really great song that requires multiple listens to grasp fully, but is satisfying.

Common Jack – “Spanish Bird”
-Common Jack is a folk singer’s singer. He’s got this infectiously enjoyable sound and the full composition is great. There are shout outs to Bob Dylan (at very least) and potentially a few other songwriters in this track. The aggressive acoustic guitar work just sounds like he really loves performing the song. “Your song was all I heard, my sweet Spanish bird” is surely a lover’s lyric and it’s written with all the optimism of an early relationship. It’s endearing and catchy.