The Melancholy of “Hang Me in the Tulsa County Stars”

I found him one evening when I was looking for the next potential artist that I could write about. I was browsing casually, and I wasn’t expecting I would find anything that would interest me. So, I jumped from one video recommendation to another, going with my gut on what to listen to next while I did something else in the background.

Band after band, I saw the thumbnail of just one guy with a guitar, all monochrome and mysterious. I thought, ‘Well, this might be someone interesting.’ I was wrong. He wasn’t just interesting. Moreland is absolutely spectacular. He played along beautifully with the lyrics that he sang, and I was completely hooked.

A Man With Honest Lyrics

His name is John Moreland, a singer from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He had his musical roots with the artists his father was listening to, and he played his first show when he was about 14. Until just recently, he largely self-performed and self-produced. He usually produces songs that are influenced by his life and his Oklahoma roots.

Ernest Hemmingway famously said that writers bleed when they write. Writing is incredibly difficult. You not only have to bare out your soul for your craft but you also have to take the level of craftsmanship you put into your work into account. Moreland is a personification of that truth. The way he narrates his lyrical tapestries are nothing short of raw emotion. It’s simplistic, yet it does a good job giving you a good punch in the gut.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiLhyWPnC2C/?taken-by=johnmoreland

Finding Myself Under The Tulsa County Stars

At first, I was attracted to the title. I wondered to myself, ‘what’s so special about the Tulsa County Stars’? But when I heard the song, I understood. For me, it just meant that the singer wasn’t ready to come home yet. They wanted to explore who they are, and this song was just a message to whoever was waiting for them to come home that they were alright. It sings of subtle hope that the singer would also learn more than just about themselves. But, for the person waiting to also learn about the world.

But, just don’t take my word for it. You can listen to his song here!

‘Hang Me in the Tulsa County Stars’ can be found in his album High on Tulsa Heat. You can purchase his album here!

What did you think of him and the Tulsa County Stars? Let us know by commenting below, or you can tweet it to me! If you want to keep it country daily, you can visit us at CountryThangDaily!