Here’s “Shackled” by Joshua Fletcher, a melancholy song from his new release Ready, Aim.
With a moody strummy accompaniment, Fletcher’s vocal whispers of mistakes and forgiveness.
It builds into a full on lament, with Fletcher’s intensity piercing right to the heart.
Fletcher shares, “This song was written on a '68 Gibson B25. If I'm not mistaken, I wrote that song in my childhood bedroom while I was home from school. I was experimenting with songs that were less in the vibe of the "alt-country" kind of stuff I'd been doing and was definitely feeling a bit moody. I remember exactly what the song was about but being this far removed from the subject it feels a little silly and melodramatic to talk about it.
“The song is actually pretty old, and it just kind of sat around collecting dust for a few years. I let Alex (Dezen) hear it one day on our first tour together and he kind of flipped out about it and told me that it was my "best song" and that I should "play it literally every night." From there it had a bit of a rebirth and I started working it into the set list. Of course, when we came together to make the record, it was one of the first things we worked on.”
Nashville-by-way-of-Atlanta singer-songwriter Joshua Fletcher’s Ready, Aim is a ten-track collection of honest, beautiful pop songs produced by The Damnwells' Alex Dezen, on Portland, Oregon-based In Music We Trust Records.
"Alex Dezen is one of my favorite songwriters," comments Fletcher on his happiness over Dezen producing Ready, Aim. "The Damnwells have been one of my favorite bands for close to ten years, and I never imagined that he would think enough of my songs to do this for me."
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Besides production duties, Dezen also appears on nearly every song, along with an impressive cast of musicians including singer/songwriter Madi Diaz and Whynot Jansveld (of Mosco Rosco).
Acoustic Nation is written by Laura B. Whitmore, a music industry marketing veteran, music journalist and editor, who has contributed to Parade.com, Guitar World, and others. She has interviewed hundreds of musicians and hosts the She Rocks Podcast. As the founder of the Women’s International Music Network, she advocates for women in the music industry and produces the annual She Rocks Awards. She is the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Positive Grid, making the world safe for guitar exploration everywhere! A guitarist and singer/songwriter, Laura is currently co-writing an album of pop songs that empower and energize girls.
