{"id":15976,"date":"2021-02-26T18:43:26","date_gmt":"2021-02-27T00:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/garyhayescountry.com\/?p=15976"},"modified":"2023-09-03T20:08:01","modified_gmt":"2023-09-03T20:08:01","slug":"mac-leaphart-releases-wry-rugged-music-city-joke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garyhayescountry.com\/?p=15976","title":{"rendered":"Mac Leaphart Releases Wry, Rugged Music City Joke"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mac Leaphart Releases Wry, Rugged Music City Joke<\/em><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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\"MacLeaphart<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Listen to ‘<\/span><\/a>ity Jok<\/span><\/a>Music Ce’<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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hh<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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I’m not going to lie here folks, in 2021 I already have a few possible entries for my<\/div>\n
TOP 50 albums of the year. For the first time ever, I have some albums great enough to make it through the year. This album is one of them by a long shot.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I get sent more albums and emails than I can possibly keep up with, and it’s not entirely often that I come across an album like this one. This one was just absolutely amazing, and I was very eager to share this album with you. I’ll be writing a whole new article of my take on this album.<\/div>\n
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NEW YORK — Feb. 12, 2021 — \u201cIf there is an overall arc that links these songs, it\u2019s that I am trying to connect in a way that I never have before,\u201d singer-songwriter Mac Leaphart<\/strong> says of Music City Joke<\/em>, out today. The 10-song collection vacillates between high-energy tales that would be at home on any dancehall stage to wry examinations of the human condition \u2014 though Leaphart\u2019s detailed writing style equally weaves throughout the more rollicking tracks on the album just the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a journeyman musician who spent a decade on the Southeastern bar band scene before settling in Nashville,\u201d Leaphart explains. \u201cI moved here with the idea of writing some of those big hits you hear on country radio; it wasn’t too long before I realized there’s a lot more that goes into writing a smash hit than just great songwriting, and I wasn’t chuckling at Nashville anymore. The joke was on me. I peeled the \u2018kick me\u2019 sign off my back and got down to focusing on my own songwriting like never before\u2013writing late at night and performing at writers\u2019 rounds to see what stuck and what didn\u2019t. And here it is: the song, the album…and the punchline.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music City Joke<\/em> offers Leaphart\u2019s strongest batch of songs to date: wry, rugged, and recharged, he\u2019s singing songs that conjure up memories of front porches, honky tonks, heartbreaks, and dive bars. Produced by Brad Jones<\/strong> (Hayes Carll), Music City Joke<\/em> is a rallying cry from an artist who has spent more than a decade paying his dues and whittling his craft, joined by a team of longtime Nashville staples, including Fats Kaplin, Will Kimbrough,<\/strong> and Matt Menefee<\/strong>, as the soundtrack to his lyric-driven, story-based songwriting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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“Music City Joke presents the listener with a number of snapshots that define the less glamorous aspects of survival in Nashville, while also tipping its hat to the numerous working musicians knocking out a living in an overcrowded market. It\u2019s also a striking collection of plain-spoken songs, very much in the present, from an artist with an eagle eye for the minor detail.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Lonesome Highway<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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The album kicks off with a reimagined version of \u201cEl Paso Kid,\u201d which originally appeared on Leaphart\u2019s 2015 release, Low in the Saddle, Long in the Tooth<\/em>. \u201cBlame on the Bottle,\u201d inspired by a preacher on the left end of the radio dial, examines both self-will and self-righteousness just the same.<\/p>\n

The rollicking \u201cHoney, Shake\u201d is the purest example of Leaphart\u2019s Southern rock-inspired upbringing, to which The Boot<\/a><\/strong> advised listeners to \u201dput on your dancin’ shoes\u2026”Honey, Shake\u201d will have you ready to groove.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Mac Leaphart channels the humor and heart of folk heroes like John Prine and Hayes Carll on “Blame on the Bottle.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Wide Open Country<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cBallad of Bob Yamaha or A Simple Plea in C Major\u201d is a nod to Shel Silverstein and a shining example of Leaphart\u2019s dedication to smartly written songs from the perspective of a weathered guitar that just wants to be played by someone who really knows their way up and down the frets. Inspired by Leaphart\u2019s move from the South Carolina Lowcountry to Nashville, the album\u2019s title track, \u201cMusic City Joke,\u201d is a reckoning of expectations and reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat Train\u201d continues to showcase Leaphart\u2019s signature style \u2013 mixing twang, tempo, and tightly-constructed lyrics into the same package, with American Songwriter<\/a><\/strong> noting its \u201cclever bundling of nostalgic allusions and raw honky-tonk harmonies.”<\/p>\n

\u201cWindow from the Sky\u201d offers a stripped-down take on how much good a change in perspective can do. \u201cEvery Day\u201d is a look into the dynamics of a relationship, while \u201cDivision Street\u201d laments a tiny, shared apartment, close living spaces, and the eye-opening experience of living inside \u201cthe party house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before earning his stripes as a road warrior, Leaphart launched his career in South Carolina, where he balanced a nighttime gig as a bartender with a steadily-increasing stream of shows. Leaphart\u2019s first album, Line, Rope, Etc.<\/em>, was released in 2009 and a few years later, in 2012, he took his signature sound with him to Nashville. There, he has launched a popular recurring songwriter’s night called Southpaw Social Club and strengthened his own writing chops, penning songs for other artists’ albums as well as his own. Low in the Saddle, Long in the Tooth<\/em> arrived in 2015, followed by Lightning Bob \u2013 featuring collaborations with Sadler Vaden \u2013 in 2018.<\/p>\n

Leaphart \u2014 now a husband and father \u2014 received a reviving kickstart later that year when he was named a winner of the prestigious Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Music City Joke<\/em> Track Listing:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. El Paso Kid
\n2. The Same Thing
\n3. Blame on the Bottle
\n4. Honey, Shake!
\n5. The Ballad of Bob Yamaha or A Simple Plea in C Major
\n6. Music City Joke
\n7. That Train
\n8. Window From the Sky
\n9. Every Day
\n10. Division Street<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Mac Leaphart Releases Wry, Rugged Music City Joke Listen to ‘ity JokMusic Ce’ hh I’m not going to lie here folks, in 2021 I already have a few possible entries for my TOP 50 albums of the year. For the first time ever, I have some albums great enough to make it through the year. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":21588,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t