Powerless

Album: January Flower (2021)
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Songfacts®:

  • In January 2019 Mat Kearney packed up recording gear and headed out to an isolated retreat near Joshua Tree. The plan was to set up a studio, rid himself of distraction and record a full studio album. One of his oldest friends, an artist named Marshal Roemen, joined him to do some painting, as did musician Eli Teplin.

    Just as they started unpacking, a huge storm rolled in, bringing record rainfall and leaving the three sitting in the dark without power. With all of their recording equipment useless, Kearney picked up his acoustic guitar and started writing songs by the light of a wood-burning stove.

    Kearney wrote five songs for the album amid the primitive conditions and in doing so was reminded of his roots. "Stripping it back to me and a guitar and some friends reminded me of how I started and that was the genesis of this record," he told American Songwriter.
  • This song, which opens the January Flower album, is about that first night in the desert. Written with Eli Teplin, it's about losing control and being powerless because of external environmental factors. Kearney said, "That mirrors our experience in life. We have all these grand plans and then something else happens and it can become even better than you planned."

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