As I get older, I find myself exploring different genres and drifting more and more towards music that I wouldn’t have thought was my cup of tea even a few years ago. One of those genres is alt-country.
Make no mistake, I grew up on Shania Twain and Toby Keith like the rest of us late 90s kids with a single mother, but found myself drifting from the genre shortly before coming out and joining the “emo” brigade. I started to connect country music to gross stereotypes like “hateful hillbillies” and “ultra-nationalism”, which made me feel unwanted and unwelcome to participate in enjoying it.
Now that I’m almost 30 and have come out a second time (trans), I’ve realized that folk and country music holds some of the most raw ideas and authentic lyricism, and I am in fact welcome to enjoy anything and everything that resonates.
When I first stumbled upon a melding of genres, such as alt-country, my mind was blown open at the endless possibilities and begging to listen to more and more. Listening to the first few seconds of this new single released earlier this month by D.L. Forrest brought me to that place of awe and excitement once again.
D.L. Forrest is originally from Lenni Lenape land (“Philadelphia, PA”), but has since relocated to Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh lands (“Vancouver, BC”). I want to take a minute to give what I just said some attention. I pulled this geographical info directly from the artist’s submission and looked up “Lenni Lenape land”, which led me to the website nanticokelenapemuseum.org where I grabbed this blurb here: “The Lenape (pronounced Le-NAH-pay) homeland ranged from southeastern New York through to northeastern Delaware and included all of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.”
I’d like to give D.L. Forrest my appreciation for the education about the indigenous people living in this region (and their ancestors), and it has inspired me to educate myself even more on this topic. I’m acquainted with the LANDBACK movement, but I have much to learn and felt this was a necessary detour for this entry. I urge any and all readers to do their part in educating themselves, the people around them, and to continue the fight for indigenous cultures and people.
D.L. Forrest spent summers attending the Philadelphia Folk F”estival and was struck with inspiration in 2022 to turn that love into creating his own unique songs and musical ideas with the best bits from his favorite genres. In D.L.’s latest release, “Can’t Sleep (feat. runner), guitars and vocals take the majority of the spotlight and also steal my heart.
The guitars drive us forward with force while the vocals top it off with a fun sweetness. The melodies are catchy, meaningful, and have a taste of early 2000s rock dashed in there somewhere (I swear that’s what it reminds me of). Kira from runner blesses us with golden vocal harmonies, adding another layer of serenity to this gorgeous track.
The lyrics hit the nail on the head when drawing a picture of a couple who seems to keep “missing” each other, too stuck in their own heads to see the forest for the trees. This is close to home for me, especially in this current season of my life where I’m so focused on my own bag of problems that I catch myself missing out on being present with my spouse. This batch in particular made me laugh in a bittersweet way, reminding me of current dynamics in my own relationship:
“You said you had a bad dream / You said that we were in a fight / You say you wanna calm down / You said you wanna be more fun”
We can never decide whether we want to stay in or be out, or have friends or isolate; the pendulum only swings to the extremes these days for us. The stress from the state of the world, our own needs, and the aftermath of generational trauma seem to push me into those extremes as of late as I search for comfort.
A guitar solo closes this one out and I can’t help but feel like this track could be 10 minutes longer, but maybe that’s because I’ve had it on repeat for at least double that just to scratch those itches in my brain.
“Can’t Sleep (feat. runner)” is out now, and if you’re a fan of alternative music, country music, MJ Lenderman, or Tom Petty, this is right up your alley. Stream and purchase it now on Bandcamp to show your support for this amazing powerhouse of an artist. I’m tapping in and staying up to date so I don’t miss a thing this person creates. I hope you’ll join me.
Written by Newt Fangs
