A brand-new release from John Michael Hersey just dropped and seeing that we are not strangers to the artist, we've been waiting for this full-length album to come out for quite some time and now that it's here it fulfills and satiates all that we expected and more.
The album is called Footprints, and the tracks run the gambit on different tonalities and eclectic songwriting that all revolve around a contemporary rock backbone with some tracks a little harder hitting than others, and some that are softer but tell more personal stories at the same time.
The thing about this record is that a lot of these songs seem to serve as chapters in the artist's life so if you listen to the full album the whole way through, which is the way to do it, then you're getting not only the full connective stories and everything that you're meant to soak in, but you're also getting the full range of what the record actually has to offer.
Listening to one or two tracks does not give you the spectrum of what the record entails as a whole.
There are certainly singles here that stand on their own two feet very well of course, but listening to the whole album gives you more of an experience.
One of the things I noticed is that the guitar work across this record is really amazing and everything is performed with a soulful approach especially in the lead guitar work.
This is great because you can tell that maybe he started off with guitar and expanded from there which probably sparked the whole songwriting thing in the first place.
Now, having said that there's also some outstanding piano work throughout the record, and sometimes the pianos and keys are what serve as the rhythm section of songs but sometimes they also serve as more lead sections as well which also tells me that he's a damn good pianist so perhaps it was the piano that started him off in the first place.
This record comes through very lush and the stories behind them are personal, and the way that he describes them and how he's feeling through them with his words and that's something you end up getting yourself attached to as well.
John Michael Hersey always seems to write songs with character and persona, so he gives these little pieces of himself and how he feels about certain topics when he writes his music.
I find myself enjoying the piano rock and pop songs as much as I do the blues rock feeling tracks as well and he also has different styles in between those so the record comes through very rounded and dynamically balanced.
I'm pretty sure John performs most or all of the instruments himself which is something that blows my mind because these are full-band productions so when you think about it it's amazing how someone could have a vision for a song or even a set of songs and then somehow bring those all to fruition alone by himself.
You have to have a real love for your craft to be able to do something like that and do it so well.
Some of these tracks really groove hard and give these addictive rhythms and danceable tonalities and you can tell blues is at the heart of a lot of these tracks.
Even with that being said, the songs have tendency to have a very pop overtone about half the time as well so he keeps these things in mind when he writes his songs and he pays a lot of attention to letting tracks tell stories with great detail and description half the time but also making sure that they can be catchy and have ways to make you move your body.
The tracks have heart and soul to them, and it lets John push the envelope when he's doing his thing.
This record was incredibly well put together and built and is oozing with charisma, honesty, and a love for performance.
Most certainly check this record out when you get a chance and again, try and listen to the whole thing so you're getting the full picture and you're hearing all the different sides of how he writes his music and how he is as a person.
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