This week is a particularly significant week in the life and musical times of one Brant Croucher. (No, I'm not going to spend this post writing in third person.) This week marks the release of my full length album, Blanco County Lights.

I'm proud of this project. I'm thankful for the many people who supported the making of this project. And I'm in awe of the many players who lent their very special talents to bring its songs to life.

The album is decidedly different than my first effort, but then again, so am I. In many ways, this album represents a transition period, both in life and in my musical journey. I'm not where I was. And I'm not where I'm going. But this is where I am. And I'm comfortable with all of that.

As you hear each track, I think you'll see that there are a lot of different styles of music that interest me, inspire me, and because of that, I'm not sure which genre you'd put this album in. To be perfectly honest, I don't think an adherance to any particular genre really matters as much as the songs contained within. So we'll call it 'folk rock' or 'country-ish' and drop it all in a bucket called 'Americana.'

I'd like to write up a brief (I use the word in the loosest sense) preview of each track, with the inspiration behind the song and how the track came to life in the studio. Since this is my blog, I'm going to do just that.

The album opens with "When You Come to Me." I wrote this song a few summers ago while I was trying to finish another song -- something that happens a lot. The melody for the chorus came into my head and I realized it was a different song entirely, so I followed the muse down a different path. I'm glad I did, as it lead me to one of my favorite songs I've written to date.

At the time, we were on the tail-end of an extremely long drought in Texas. It had been so long, in fact, I had previously remarked that whenever it finally did rain again, I was going to go outside and stand in it -- to literally soak it all in. And so finally it began to rain and I was filled with joy in the most unexpected way.

I'm prone to nostalgia (this isn't news to most who know me well) and rain provides a good canvas for introspection and long walks down roads once traveled. There's a calmness and a redemptive tone that accompanies a good summer shower and it was something I missed. As the rain fell, I decided to forgo the rain dance and enjoy the moment indoors. Instead of eating my words, I used them for the opening lines of the song.

As for the mechanics of the track itself, I played acoustic guitar and sang. Jack Saunders (who produced and recorded the record) played bass and provided the electric guitar fills. Eleanor Whitmore played fiddle, Rick Richards played drums. Lainey Balagia lent her voice to the accompanying vocals and Willy T. Golden added lap steel, which made for a really special instrumental section.

I hope you enjoy it. And if you do, don't shy away from telling somebody!

-Brant