by Tony Meade
I’ve spent my life as a late bloomer, perpetually running to catch up. I was late into my teens before I even knew that I could sing, into my twenties before starting to play guitar, in my late twenties before I was in a band writing my own songs, and only years later would release my first album. Chasing the clock, hoping to catch up before time runs out.
I was born and raised in the hills and valleys of West Virginia, a land of contradictions itself – a place of conservative values and union labor, of startling beauty and stifling poverty, of struggle and soul. It was here that I had my first musical experiences, from the traditional country gospel of my ancestors to sneaking into my older sisters’ bedroom to pilfer and explore their collection of 45s, pretending I was giving concerts, using the bed as a stage.
Listen to the album while reading the text.
It wasn’t long before I had latched onto the first two albums that would act as a catalyst for my own music in later years. In 1983, I bought my first album (on cassette), Synchronicity by The Police, and not long after that came War by U2. I would later complete this triumvirate with the release of Definitely Maybe by Oasis in 1994, and those would define my taste in music going forward.
Of these early influences, there was just something about that music that, even though I was really young at the time, just spoke to me. It was just… different, and yet it was melodic and catchy and had so much passion and reality supporting it. I wouldn’t have articulated it like that at the time – I just knew it was special music.
First Steps
Though I had developed a deep appreciation for songwriting and musicianship at a young age, it wasn’t until my late high school years that I developed ambitions as a performer in my own right. I was muscled into doing musical theatre, mostly because I had the same teacher as my older sister, and she was really talented. I didn’t know I could sing, so I just tried to fake it. It wasn’t until I was getting lead roles that I realized you can’t fake being able to sing. I simply could.
I spent the next few years overseas with the US Army, during which time I taught myself to play the guitar and took the first tentative steps into the world of songwriting. In the beginning, I was either trying really hard to be creative and different or essentially re-writing cover songs. It wasn’t until a bit later that I found out how to write in my own voice… And that the secret to saying something is just to say it.
After short stints in Charlotte, where I began performing with my first acts, and in Seattle, where I learned the art of recording, I relocated to Denver in 1998. Not long after, I began playing a succession of rock’n’roll bands, and it was from these early lineups that I formed the power-pop trio Feedback, which saw the full-flowering of my songwriting abilities.
That first album, Not My Day, was released in 2010 and was the culmination of many years of songwriting, moving from trying to ape the style and substance of artists my influences to finally finding my own voice and trying to make something that was both timeless and memorable. It’s an album about frustration in life, in love, in work, in your dreams, but just trying to hang on a little longer.
Won’t Stop Singing
Now fully a solo artist, I would release a couple of one-off singles, and then my second album, Won’t Stop Singing, in 2015. Both the title song and the album as a whole were born out an era when the slings and arrows of others seemed to rain down upon me, so themes of persevering amid scorn, and trying to find hope in the dark time, permeate the whole album.
2020 would see the release of two albums, in no small part due to the lockdowns. The first, and the one that had been planned in advance, was my third album, Turn It Around, which, while it had been primarily written in the years leading up to 2020, seemed to take on a new resonance as the year unfolded. The songs are primarily about finding the light in the darkness and promising yourself that things will get better because you will make them better, whether those things be personal, political, or otherwise.
At the end of 2020, I released Wassail, my massive 18-track Christmas album that had been a secret labor of love for many years prior. The ongoing lockdowns of that year provided me with an opportunity to finally finish it and release it into the wild. Composed mostly of medieval and Renaissance songs, the album is an attempt to rearrange to suit my own time and musical style while simultaneously exposing what may be obscure (to Americans) traditional European music to people who wouldn’t know of it. I’m extremely proud of that record, having played and recorded all the parts myself.
Over the course of 2021 and 2022, I tried a new approach of focusing on singles, though I have now put those all together on a brand-new EP, released in May 2023, called The Long Way Round. The songs on this EP, I believe, are some of the best songwriting and recording that I have done to date and represent a turn away from the punk-influenced power-pop of early years, while retaining their memorable melodies and irascible attitude. They also show me how far I have come as an artist and producer.
I’ve ended this year with another compilation EP, Odds And Ends, a collection of the misfit toys of my musical life. These include my forays into “nerd rock,” including two Game of Thrones-inspired singles from during the original time of the show’s run and two tribute songs dedicated to the work of J.R.R. Tolkien. Also included is my parody Christmas song and a tribute to one of my favorite local songwriters.
Chasing The Impossible Dream
Where do I go from here? That is the question. It seems as though I have reached an important turning point in my musical life, a point where all of the music that represents my past has been put out into the wild, and all of what lies ahead is completely unknown. It’s both exciting and frightening at the same time.
The very first song that I ever sang in front of other people was “The Impossible Dream” from the musical Man of La Mancha, and I feel like my whole musical life has been about chasing that impossible dream. I haven’t gotten there yet, and yet I believe that it is time for me to dream it all up again.
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