The first single from my upcoming third album Highball Bruiser is now streaming. 4-8-4 Blues is the mostly true story of my great-grandpa's life as a train engineer in the 1940s. Go have a listen on your prefered streaming site or at https://www.trappersattic.com/connorjayliess.
The feller above was my great-grandpa, Don Sholes. I wrote this song as sort of a tribute to both him and my great-grandma, Montest, after hearing what it was like living with a railroad man for a husband back in the 1940s and 50s. Trains have run through my blood around the clock, and there's a certain attachment I think folks have to trains and locomotives that other modes of transportation just don't have.
Stay tuned for a whole hornet's nest of train-flavored songs, set to release later in December. This is by far the biggest project I've put to task, featuring several different musicians and bands from the Boise area.
4-8-4 Blues features Mustang Mark Stolpe (upright bass); Matt Skipper (electric guitar); and Dave Manion (lap steel guitar). It won't be the last time you hear them on one of these tracks, either. As always, thanks for putting an ear to my music, folks.
Take care.
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