I’ve been sprucing up this site over the past couple of months, mostly in the background: cleaning up expired YouTube embeds, cross-linking posts, building landing pages for my various collections.
This week I’m calling attention to some of those new features, in the hopes that both established and new readers will find it easier to navigate the site.
Today is a special occasion here on Meet Me in Montauk, as frequent commenter (and my dear mother) Peg is turning 80. I could opine for hours about how caring, smart, and funny she is, but instead I’ve decided to turn today’s entry over to four people who know that firsthand: her grandchildren.
Her youngest grandkids (and my daughters) Fiona and Sophia wrote the rest of today’s blog entry, while their cousin Daniel wrote and performed the song (with an assist from Steely Dan), and Daniel’s older sister Madison created the accompanying video. Enjoy!
Concluding my look at Just Daniel, the new EP by singer-songwriter Daniel Gallup…
The EP began with ‘Just Say’ and it ends with ‘Just Gray,’ a nice bit of symmetry that is reflected in the collection’s title. And while the opener was a jaunty portrait of young lust, the closer is more somber and contemplative.
Daniel is a political science major who now makes a living performing music, so it’s not hard to decipher the first lines of the chorus: “When LA is the clouds and DC is the ground you land somewhere in between.” This song suggests you shouldn’t lose yourself in pursuit of your dreams, but that those dreams are still worth pursuing.
Continuing my look at Just Daniel, the new EP by singer-songwriter Daniel Gallup…
‘Somewhere in August,’ track four of the EP, is another of my favorites. It has a laid back country vibe that suits the melancholy of its lyrics. In sound and theme, this song reminds me a lot of my beloved Miranda Lambert. I’m not sure if Daniel has listened to her work.
This is the most cryptic and metaphorical lyric of the set. In a TikTok, Daniel says that a failed American Idol audition led to the writing of this song. I like that something so specific led to a song about so much more.
Continuing my look at Just Daniel, the new EP by singer-songwriter Daniel Gallup…
The next track, Eagle Eyes, is another that reminds me of John Mayer, particularly when it gets to the great guitar solo at the climax.
Like ‘Just Say,’ this song finds a hopeful romantic shooting his shot. This guy is a bit more serious than the previous track’s dance club flirter. He’s even ready to hear the lucky lady’s opinions on the latest season of The Bachelor.
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