Bad Keys of the Mountain has released their latest track titled ‘Everyday’. Life and all its complications often need to be condensed into simple phrases or mantras to help us accept the situations we find ourselves in. An all too common one – one that I have recently begun relying on more often thanks to watching The Sopranos – is “what are ya gonna do?” It does not provide a meaningful answer to any problem one might be facing, but it helps redefine an unpleasant situation as a product of the situation itself, a result of the world just doing what it’s gonna do. It is much more effective than it has any right to be, but perhaps that is just a testament to how convoluted the world has become. If you feel yourself responding in kind in these trying times, perhaps even daily, then Bad Keys of the Mountain has a new song for you: “Everyday”.
Charleston, WV rock outfit Bad Keys of the Mountain have hit a creative stride. In just three years, they have released two albums worth of material: 2021’s “Together and Alone” and “As It Is” the very next year. Not content to rest on their laurels, the group is back in the studio yet again currently working on their third album. Singer-songwriter and guitarist David McGuire is joined by bassist Joey Lafferty and drummer Jason Reese to round out a power trio inspired by the power pop and rock sensibilities of the 60s and 70s and personal experiences of Appalachian adolescence in the 90s and 00s. Joining the trio are guest background vocalists Justin Puett and Eric Robbins from Parachute Brigade, as well as MacLean Entwistle of Building Rockets on organ and orchestration, together shaping one powerful rock ballad.
Wasting no time, things start off with David’s patient piano and vocal work, setting the stage for internal reflection. The simple spirit of a message we can all hold dear is frank and apparent from the very beginning before the rest of the band even joins in:
Everyday
The sun shines on a world that’s turning
Doesn’t have to be so bad
The rhythm section wastes no time joining the journey, Jason providing the steady backbeat while Joey dances around the melody with a supportive yet spirited series of basslines. Not content to sit in the background, the bass grooves around the track to add in some charming character to the otherwise piano-driven ballad. Guest vocalists Justin and Eric stake their claims in the chorus, building a sturdy canopy for the song’s lifting energy before being joined by the aforementioned orchestration talents from MacLean for the bridge. Here we are treated with gorgeous synth pads, flute, xylophone, and more to fill the wellspring of good faith in the process we are undergoing on the daily, hoping to carry us through our troubles with honesty and humility. If you’re somehow not feeling the positivity by this point, one final anthemic chorus really drives the point home, wrapping up this song in a perfect care package of peace.
As mentioned earlier, Bad Keys of the Mountain are not slowing down any time soon according to their track record, with a third album well under way to which to look forward. In the meantime, enjoy this short reprieve from life and accept whatever position you find yourself in. There will always be a way forward, whether or not you can hear it yet.
Q&A
What are the origins of your band name, Bad Keys of the Mountain? Does it have any roots in the Appalachian area from which you hail?
Everyone asks this question and I wish I had a better answer for it. It was just random word associations that seemed to fit. It’s as simple as that. The “Mountain” in the band name seemed to work too with us being from WV, but that’s about as deep as it goes
You folks have been seemingly non-stop hard at work churning out new music. What has spurred your creative streak, and how do you keep it going?
Ideas and songs are just there. It’s not something that I can consciously set out to do. I’ll sit down at the piano or with a guitar and see what comes out of it. Usually there is an idea that will start to emerge. That’s the part that is a gift from the universe. Shaping it into a cohesive idea is where the craft comes in.
What aspects of the sounds of the 60s and 70s do you feel are or have become timeless even in this day and age of “modern” music-making? Where do you find they end up in your music?
I think it’s the melody and harmony from those eras that come out in our music. That’s the stuff that we all grew up listening to, so it’s bound to come out. It’s part of our musical DNA.
Featured image by Jimbo Valentine.
LINKS:
https://facebook.com/BADKEYSOFTHEMOUNTAIN
https://www.reverbnation.com/badkeysofthemountain
https://badkeysofthemounta.wixsite.com/website
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2W3MU68gEOfyzcasPA7igI
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/bad-keys-of-the-mountain/1415700379
https://badkeysofthemountain1.bandcamp.com
