Stars Are Shining

There are a lot of songs written about keeping the faith and being hopeful through hard times. "Stars Are Shining" is kind of the opposite of those songs. This is a song about seeing hard times and stormy weather coming our way but making the most of the time we have left before the storm arrives. The recording features some awesome pedal steel work by Justin Schipper (Kris Kristofferson, Chris Stapleton, Shania Twain, Kasey Musgraves, Beyonce, Jelly Roll) and a cool vocal arrangement by Stephanie Layton. This is one of those songs that seems like it was written through me rather than by me. It's got simultaneously an island vibe and a jazz feel to it, neither of which is in my songwriting comfort zone. In the studio, I played the song for Stephanie and told her I was hearing kind of an Andrews Sisters background vocal in my head, at which point she revealed she'd previously sung in an Andrews Sisters tribute ensemble, which I wouldn't have guessed was even a thing. The song had always reminded me of the Steve Martin-Bernadette Peters beach duet of the song "Tonight You Belong To Me" in the movie The Jerk. When I told that to Stephanie, she laughed and said she'd made the same association! As offbeat as the song is, it's one of my faves on the record. The pedal steel, the vocal arrangement and the trumpet solo by Justin Powell, all combine for a pretty unique vibe.