Friday, January 10, 2014

Happy Birthday, White Horse!



Today, one of my favorite albums of all time turns two years old.  Ryan Schmidt's White Horse EP was released the day before my birthday and with it's intelligent lyrics, stunning vocals, finger picked guitar, and Paula Kelley string arrangements, it is definitely my favorite accidental birthday present ever.  Even though it's only been around for two years, this album (and one song in particular) has been very important to me.


When White Horse EP came out, I was in a pretty bad situation career-wise and change was looming on the horizon.  I knew that change was imminent and that always freaks me out.  I listened to this album every single day on the way to work for months.  It was just such a calm, serene place to spend my mornings, it made it possible for me to face the days.  Then on the way home, I would listen to it again to clear my mind and shake loose the day.  It was quite literally this and two Betty Goo albums that got me through those last few miserable months at that job. 

Several months after White Horse EP came out, the aforementioned change came into my life and I had to make some decisions.  When I decided to do what I felt was going to make me happiest in my everyday life and not necessarily what was the most popular decision or the one everybody around me understood, I needed support.  I found that support in a little song called "Go Where You Belong".  This is far and away my favorite song on White Horse EP and probably my favorite Ryan Schmidt song, period.  When I started my new job, I made it a point to listen to "Go Where You Belong" last thing every morning before I got out of the car.  It's kind of my own 'lucky song'.  Whenever I need a little boost, a little encouragement, I listen to this song, sometimes several times in a row.  As a matter of fact, I fully intend to have a bit of the lyrics tattooed on me next time I get inked.

So, Happy Birthday, White Horse!!  And Congratulations, Ryan, on the 2 year anniversary of having made the world a more beautiful sounding place. 

For everyone else, here's a link of where you can buy White Horse EP (I tried to embed it, but for some reason that wouldn't work for me), but trust me, one little click is not too much effort.  You can also go there and listen to the entire album and many of Ryan's other releases as well, including his newest stuff, which I would highly recommend doing.

http://ryanschmidt.bandcamp.com/album/white-horse-ep