During all this pandemic fog something peeked itself through the clouds and let a ray of light in. Not only did Arlo McKinley drop two singles for his new record but he also was signed to John Prine’s “Oh Boy Records.” The album Die Midwestern will be dropping on August 14th. I’m here to talk about the two singles that were dropped, “Die Midwestern” and “Walking Shoes.”
 
Die Midwestern was recorded at Memphis’ legendary Sam Phillips Recording Service and was produced by GRAMMY award-winning Matt Ross-Spang along with an all-star Memphis band of Ken Coomer, David Smith, Will Sexton, Rick Steff, Jessie Munson and Reba Russell.

These two singles were dropped recently, and if there is one thing Arlo has done well, is right here in these two singles. Listening to them and writing at the same time is hard to do because I just want to listen. The beauty of what they do is stop me in my thoughts and just take a minute. To either breathe, or listen, or sometimes both. To just stop. To simply take a minute and listen.

Lyrically Arlo McKinley is at it again. I don’t know what he is writing about in these two songs, and to know would take away the beauty of mystery. So, I will say that when I hear them, I hear the teller speaking from some place honest. Maybe getting the thoughts he always had in his head out and said. I feel like this every time I hear an Arlo song. The honesty within the storyteller’s self to say, or in this case, sing the words.
 
Discussing the song "Walking Shoes," McKinley has stated, “I wrote this song about moving forward from the things that are keeping you from being free. Freeing yourself from bad relationships, making good out of all the bad things, giving and receiving forgiveness. It’s knowing there’s something better and taking the first steps on the journey to find it.”

It’s been some time since we’ve had a new Arlo album. Touring and putting the songs together all takes up time. I’m truly excited to hear the album when it gets dropped. In the meantime, I am going to wear out the singles “Die Midwestern” and “Walking Shoes.” If you are not aware of Arlo McKinley this is a great place to start and you can check out his other album as well which is self-titled. I could wax all day about these songs, but I’ll leave it at this; great songs done up by some great folks.