My California - Just Playing My Guitar Part Eighteen

7 months ago

For this weeks Show Us Your California contest by @thesocalhive I continue this musical series where I relax at home and...

just play my guitar!!

The music continues!
If you missed them be sure to check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, and Part 17.

This week in My California was another rather boring week of mostly just doing work, but I was able to get in some guitar time! This week I chose a song from the folk singer and recent viral sensation Oliver Anthony. Recently his song 'Rich Men North of Richmond' went viral online and he went from being pretty much unknown to being a chart topping star. I saw the song just as it started going viral and I watched the video go from 3M views to 30M views in just a couple days which is absolutely incredible. It was really a surprise to me. Yes, I think it's a really good song, but as a long time fan of simple singer/song writer folk music I'm usually not in the majority. Most people I know think that type of music is "weird" or "old" and I never would have imagined that a folk singer like him could be so popular. And I don't think Oliver Anthony thought so either. But I'm really stoked about it. And he's not just a one hit wonder as ALL of his songs are really good both musically and lyrically. This week I'm playing a cover of his song 'Doggonit'. I love the lyrical imagery that this song invokes when he talks about people eating bugs over bacon, or homeless people living on the side of the highway next to self driving cars, or people demonizing coal while never spending a day in a coal mine yet still using the electricity it provides to live their fancy lives. And then contrasted with the imagery of a small town where all you hear is the sound of the mill humming and the only time there's any traffic is when the train goes through town. And my favorite part, with me coming from a family with some hoboing in our history, is him riding that train, with just him and his dog on it. Especially the way he draws out the lyric "Doggonit" to where it almost sounds like a howling dog... it's so damn good. Now of course neither my guitar skills nor my singing are anywhere near as good as Olivers, but I still hope you enjoy it. I know I enjoyed playing it. And so without further ado... here is my cover of 'Doggonit'!

You can find out more about Oliver Anthony at his website https://oliveranthonymusic.com/ and you can hear his version of 'Doggonit' here on his Youtube channel.