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At first Zoom was pretty fun. All of us in our own separate little boxes on the laptop screen: someone was accidentally muted; someone couldn’t get their camera to work; someone was a potato. We had quizzes and did workouts and went for after-work drinks in our dressing gowns. It was nice to see other people, even if it was just on a computer screen.
But after a while the novelty began to wear off. We started leaving our cameras off, we stopped getting dressed from the waist down, we began to become painfully self-conscious about our own faces staring back at us. Sometimes the only way through another Zoom meeting was to start drinking.
That’s about the time George Shingleton was writing his new single, 'Talkin' Whiskey', a twangy celebration of Shingleton’s favourite tipple written over Zoom in the middle of the pandemic with Alex Kline and Phil Lammonds - a process that inspired the song in its own way too.
"I think Phil was sippin’ some whiskey, which made me want to also, so I did, and before ya know it, we all were talking about what we were drinking", Shingleton explains. "That set up what we did that day as far as the writing. The lyrics turned into a vibe of what we, and a lot of other people, were feeling around that time, I think. That in turn, made it relatable in a lot of ways for me. I felt like it was a good time-type of song to make folks forget about their worries, even for just a few minutes."
'Talkin' Whiskey' is a stomping chunk of soulful southern country rock and an end-of-the-world drinking anthem for the ultimate last orders call, as Shingleton rolls his Sturgill-meets-Stapleton West Virginia drawl around the state of the world as it all falls apart. "New York says the market’s down, and the world, it might stop turning / I just pour more Kentucky brown before it all starts burning", he sings. The whole world might be about to end, but George Shingleton is going to make damn sure he’s got a Jack Daniels in his hand if it does.
Born and bred in rural West Virginia, Shingleton began strumming guitars at age 12, but he didn’t begin writing songs seriously until he was almost 30, taking his unique blend of southern rock, gospel and outlaw country to Nashville to pursue his dream fulltime.
'Talkin’ Whiskey' follows on the heels of last year's 'West Virginia Moon' single and is just another heavy hint of what’s to come from this very special country singer.
The single is premiering exclusively on Holler below:
'Talkin' Whiskey' will be released on Rock Ridge Music on February 11th. Click here to presave the single.
