Best of 2004, #11: New York This Morning by Roman Candle

The second song by Roman Candle in my top 30 of 2004, this song is a youthful "wish I was somewhere else" sort of song. "I'd go right out tonight, probably take a bus, right down to St. Patrick's Cathedral babe, an' light a candle for us." This is another live take from the Exiled on Main Street sessions with Chris Stamey producing. The sound is very intimate and relaxed, and it's difficult to notice this is even a live song it's so well-produced and executed.

New York This Morning is an early morning sort of song. The day is a bit open, you're not sure where it's going to take you, but you can dream where it will... and what it could be like. If you're somewhere you don't want to be -- perhaps working in a laundry room like Skip Matheny was when he wrote this song, you're often thinking of the day taking you somewhere else. "The sun on Central Park and my eyes..." might show you a new future. It might show you someone else to be.

I'm telling you, mark my words -- Skip Matheny is going places. He's going to be a mover and shaker, somehow, somewhere. He's got such an instinctive song-writing talent for such a young man, and he's got such a great voice, he's gonna be big. I can't wait for their full-length studio disc to come out later this year.