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Distant Skies

by Adrian Niles

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    An Adrian Niles designed Distant Skies album cover T-Shirt.
    Adrian worked closely with the print company to choose screened colors, charcoal and sand, and fabric blends to complement heather gray, creating a soft and comfortable band tee.

    %50 Polyester %25 Cotton %25 Rayon.

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1.
I took a turn for the worse once the weather broke Too many hard nights too long alone My ship sailed before I could board, I found my spot neath a grove of pines in the undergrowth I dreamt all night about a snake oil man, he’s been hunting these parts, I can feel his gate shape the wind I can hear him call, calling out my name I got bit, There’s poison in my vein!” I’m marking this place with with a memory and a curse, with the parts of me is that will never leave the earth I’m following the call. Can’t you hear it ring? I'm leaving it all behind, these dead man’s things Thinking about a girl I left along the way, in the chill of winter, one of those east coast states She left her locket with a picture in my sack Her love for me gone, and it ain’t coming back I roll a smoke, I'm looking for nothing, waiting on the wind to carry my mind away Waiting for my cuts to bleed, waiting for my legs to break, someone else will pick up my path and go a long time after me I’m marking this place with with a memory and a curse, with the parts of me is that will never leave the earth I’m following the call. Can’t you hear it ring? I'm leaving it all behind, these dead man’s things
2.
I’d send for you baby, but there’s a fire in the desert I’d send for you baby but the whole town is burning down My plans they get made, but they keep on changing I’d send for you baby but tonight I’m going down I got love for you baby but it’s all in vain, I got love for you baby, its deeply felt I wrote it all out in a goddamn letter, I got love for you baby but my heart melt I’d send for you baby but the whole town is on fire I’d send for you baby but I’m already half way to hell
3.
You remind me of someone Someone I knew long ago When the heart was a soft place, a fertile field where love would grow Do you ponder me lately on the road that lead you where you are? Make a fire of me, burn my name, cast me to the stars The mind is a heavy load on a hot track peeling space and time back I’m gonna jump that thing and hold on tight Ya know it was an explosion that built the light? Do you remember when? Awake all night while the day folds back on me The moon is my ally and time has become the enemy The soul is an expression of the chaos of pure energy but we call love I could hit the road for anywhere tonight knowing it was an explosion that built the light Do you remember when?
4.
Scrapyard 05:00
Living in a scrapyard sleeping with the snakes and dogs Looking around for patterns mapping out the stars I been crawling in the gravel I dug a hole under the tin fence Everybody is coming and going? I can’t tell if I came or went Living in a scrapyard seeking comfort in the pain a man can’t sit around, it’ll make him sick and lame I found a letter in the wind, it said, “to whom it may concern, come back to me again. My flame for you still burns.” Living in a scrapyard got a dirty carburetor for a heart A cracked rear view for a soul and few other broken parts the sunlight fades my leather, the rain rusts my hood Wanna get back on the road, gonna fix up real good
5.
Talk Me Down 03:10
There are spirits in the blacktop, they ring like bells Every road has got a lover with a hard tale Mercy mama my memories have got my fist in a clinch Talk me down, honey talkie down I’m hitting 90 mph in the dark of night I put an echo out there beyond the bending of light I’m heading to a revival deep down in the canyon Honey talk me down, honey talk me down Talk me down, talk me down I built you a paper doll adorned with flowers and leaves You fostered my children when I had to leave Upon my return bewilderment followed Honey talk me down, honey talk me down Talk me down, talk me down Abandoned lovers and the bird of prey Put bones in the river to throw away I’m carving your name in my arm tonight Talk me down, honey talk me down I got my ticket for an early flight Abroad to Europe in a box kite Into distance skies I hurl the weight Talk me down, honey talk me down
6.
You gotta bring your love for me home You gotta bring your love for me home There’s no sense in trying to go on at it alone I never wished for it to end I never wished for it to end I only wanna be your one and only again I’ve got the pandemic blues It’s tougher than it seemed it would be You’ve got the pandemic blues It’s tougher than it seemed it would be To be quarantined I'm looking out from the inside of my head I'm looking out from the inside of my head Looking outside into my home, your heart wants to split I’ve got the pandemic blues It’s tougher than it seemed it would be You’ve got the pandemic blues It’s tougher than it seemed it would be I’ve got the pandemic blues It’s tougher than it seemed it would be You’ve got the pandemic blues It’s tougher than it seemed it would be To be quarantined
7.
The fall feels like morphine. A feather aloft wilting. The void carries not a thing. Does awareness seek me out when I’m lost? Did he get scared and run off? I haven’t seen, I haven’t seen, haven’t seen God around here in a while. I haven’t, I haven’t, haven’t seen a god around here in a while. There’s a mystery behind every beacon, within the darkness the glare shields. I’m dead to the world on a blind bend, Deafened by murmurs and just out of sight. Is he hiding behind the light? I haven’t seen, I haven’t seen, haven’t seen God around here in a while. I haven’t, I haven’t, haven’t seen a God around here in a while. Did I throw an ebb in his flow? Leave the door open too long? Go too far outside of time? Take street cred for his storm? Give me death or glory man, pick one, I’ll go along. Did I do something wrong? I haven’t, I haven’t, haven’t seen a god around here in a while. I haven’t, I haven’t, haven’t seen a God around here in a while. Did I do something wrong?
8.
California 05:11
Faded signs on a highway dim In the vastness of night without care On the rusted blade of fate I clutch a hand worn hilt I cut myself, my clothes, and my hair Heading out to California Oh pine breeze carry my bewildered soul Heading out to California Luckless wayward child from the shale and coal A crooked line from the passing lane I followed into the median In a ditch near the viaduct I got painted red Stranded at midnight but not dead I'm heading out to California Fell to slumbering between flashes of big diesel lights Heading out to California In a spirit’s hazed rest under a studded sky night Stuck like arrows into the trunks of trees I climb out on the limbs to swim To drown or fall into the sea or sky It’s all done graciously on a whim. Heading out to California These high mountain terrains can change a man Heading out to California Toward promises of big love and heat soaked sand
9.
Marti Howell was a big man, stood 7 foot two they say He lived on Colebrook Road down along the creek, collected scrap metal and papier-mâché His children left home a long time ago, then his wife hit the road Up a hollow near a town by a river that flows Martha McQueen has lived alone since her husband passed on in ‘93 She began tending to all of the very small things, she went out and bought her that bonsai tree All the company she kept, they one by one left till she questioned everything she thought to know Up a hollow near a town by a river that flows Tiny Joe Wayne is a weekend warrior, hitting the flea markets looking for old silverware He can turn a fork into a money clip, spoons into earrings that bring in 60 bucks a pair He kicked his habit years ago, but black eagle is a heavy load Up a hollow near a town by a river that flows Old Crow quit eighth grade back in ‘38 to work on the family farm and when the war was over he came back home with a distorted mind and only one good arm. He drove a wedge between the loving heart with the storms the dark clouds forebode Up a hollow near a town by a river that flows Thunder man passes quickly through town every three weeks or so He brings a tall pine tree or two down uprooted from ground just to spite Old Crow. But it don’t make a man happy living to harm another, it’s written in nearly every code Up a hollow near a town by a river that flows Clyde Porter is at the diner every day sipping coffee over the morning paper. He had a heart attack there just last spring while overextending for the salt shaker, And he laid up in a bed for nearly a month swearing he’d finally hit the road Up a hollow near a town by a river that flows Good old Trav got caught in the rain, he had his fishing boat down on the lake. He watched the ripples in the water rush the shoreline as the ground took to a fracker’s quake He thought my god what have I done? I sold my rights with an access road Up a hollow near a town by a river that flows Up a hollow near a town by a river that flows
10.
Easy Come 04:34
Boys wouldn’t it be something if I could make the sun rise, before cold dark anxious morning arrives? If I could take the reins to tame the vicious beasts I ride? If I could stop and start time without warring? If I never admit I could do such things will those things go undone? If I could ease my grip from what I desire most, will what I desire more easily come? Boys wouldn’t it be boss if I could whip up a storm, to blow the whole world off its heels? If I could make a melody of the wind through every town, and hit every single one in their feels? If I never admit I could do such things will those things go on undone? If I can ease my grip from what I desire most, will what I desire more easily come? Boys wouldn’t it be sweet if I could change her heart, back to the ways of loving me? I’d bring her a pony and a unicorn, we could ride on the beaches of eternity. If I never admit I could do such things will those things go on undone? If I can ease my grip from what I desire most, will what I desire more easily come?

about

Distant Skies is captivating. It’s a lovely drone of pump organ, a siren through the thick desert smoke, reverse-delayed maxed-out guitars taking flight, rhythmic chaos in the throes of the big bang, a strong simple dirty groove under electric piano, recorded lo-fi on a car ride, during a global pandemic, on a front porch with a parlor guitar while diesel gods drive off into the distance, a trip west to California, over rivers and through fracked hollows, it’s letting go of all you want, and waiting for it all to come.

credits

released October 20, 2020

Produced, engineered, mixed by Adrian Niles at The Hideout. All songs written by Adrian Niles. ℗ ©  Adrian Niles 2020.
Roots Rock Records.
Civil War Tracks Music.

Adrian Niles - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, electric piano, pump organ, resonator guitar, vocals, harmonica, midi, theremin app, drums.

Matt Heusel - electric guitar and background vocal on California, lead guitar on Pandemic Blues.

Alex Peck - drums on Dead Man’s Things, It Was An Explosion That Built The Light, California, and Easy Come. Alex's drums recorded at AM Peck Studio. 

Mastered by Dan Bozek at Aardvark Productions.

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Adrian Niles Ohio

Adrian Niles is a roots-rock artist from eastern Ohio. He grew up in the bluegrass music tradition of his father, uncle, and grandfather’s band The Porter Brothers. After discovering artists like Dylan and Hendrix, in his teen years, Niles dedicated his life to the folk, blues, and rock expressions as a songwriter and performer. ... more

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