Chicago-based blues-rocker Nathan Graham falls under the unique category of musicians releasing a debut album deep into their musical career. Yet this isn’t a case of technicality with regard to EPs, mixtapes, and other odds-and-ends collections falling outside the parameters of what constitutes an “album”—instead the longtime session player just never felt the confidence to take center stage as the vocalist to perform his own songs.
Which may come as a surprise to anyone who’s heard the string of singles he’s released dating back to mid-summer with the rousing bar-room Americana number “Pride,” which, in spite of its lush and layered instrumental, feels largely defined by its vocalist’s husky near-whisper. An equally complex network of instruments—although considerably twangier—accompany Graham’s nearly Mayer-esque vocals on his latest single from his forthcoming debut Saint of Second Chances, “I’ll Get It Right,” which speaks to the travails of a struggling (yet fulfilled) artist’s lifestyle.
“I wrote this song on tour after a particularly bad year,” Graham reveals. “I started to write down my frustrations with playing music and the feeling of burnout that comes with being a touring musician. The song took form once I thought about the universal feeling of trying at something you love and the feeling of not making any progress, the day-in-day-out grind part of working on a dream. ‘I’ll Get It Right’ can be a soft prayer, plea, or question. It can also be a loud statement saying that no matter how long this takes, I will make this happen.”
Check out the track below, and pre-order Saint of Second Changes here before it drops this Friday via Pravda Records.
