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A World Without

by Stephen Simmons

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    Compact Disc in a digipak with fold out booklet with song lyrics and credits. With photography from Heidi Ross and design by Adam Pinney.

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1.
Prelude 01:17
2.
West 03:46
WEST So I headed West And I hopped a train Traded my old dirt plow For a prospecting claim San Francisco The Golden Coast On the edge of the New World Lit with an ambitious glow The Son of a migrant From the Old World's shores Scottish-Irish mixed with the blood of the Native born In love with a Gypsy Fleeing Revolution in a foreign land Her Father seeks the yellow color Like I seek his Daughter's hand Working on the railroad to make my way The creeks of Brysonville now lie so far away Still she waits Chorus: Heaven can be found When she lets her gold hair down On any field that she lay There's a tremble in the ground When you let that poor girl down In the California Earth is what they say Staring into the evening Sun At the end of a long work day Alone with your thoughts Aside the hammer's heavy weight I memorized Every soft line on her face And not a million miles of railroad ties Could ever erase The blood in my veins would surely turn to sand Should I arrive too late to be her man I pray she waits Chorus So I headed West And I hopped a train Traded my old dirt plow For a prospecting claim San Francisco The Golden Coast On the edge of the New World Lit with an ambitious glow
3.
PURITAN COWBOYS It’s October on the Continent It’s already cold in Wales And I try to picture myself back home But my imagination fails Overcome with a restlessness Still missing days long past But it’s a brand new peaceful feeling Now that I trust my path Chorus: With my Cowboy Ways And my Puritan Roots I set out each day And I seek to live true There’s a worry buried in my bones Digging into my skull But there’s a melody running through my veins Givin’ my heart a pulse Chorus Too anxious for the rivers There’s a New World around the bend Too much time for despair Carrying around this Original Sin Solo Tonight tonight the Moon’s on fire Like it’s been since I don’t know when Put my finger on a map Check my thumb, my soul to the wind Chorus
4.
A WORLD WITHOUT War will break your heart The Stars were doomed from the start You feel alone when they fall But love can find us all A world without dreams Without wild and beautiful schemes Where man never lets himself hope Leaves only a machine with no soul Chorus: I know there’s Some place in this world still where We can find love within I swear Learn to chase the light Without running from the darkness of night You would not know love without fear Know joy without pain, anger or tears Chorus The Church will break your heart The State was flawed from the start Anything we salute can surely fall This world plays tricks on us all Chorus We can find love within I swear We can find love within I swear
5.
FAIRY TALES (The Flower’s Burden) I don’t believe in Fairy Tales She said as the waiter brought the check to our table And I don’t want to hurt this time An I’m just a boy sitting across from you And you’re just a girl doing what girls do But I can’t promise after tonight Chorus: And I sure can’t make you love me Any easier than I could help you love yourself She loves me, She loves me not sir It’s an awful heavy burden for a flower to bare by itself One for the money and two for the road It’s one to hang on and two to let go And I know it’s another thing altogether to trust this guy Once bitten and twice shy I’m a burnt child baby at a big bonfire Standing here watching flames risin’ higher Chorus Sometimes it’s so hard just to figure it out Sometimes we say what we mean We have our doubts I’m not without mine and that’s ok Can do this together I’ll jump if you will babe Chorus I don’t believe in Fairy Tales She said as the waiter brought the check to our table And I don’t want to hurt this time
6.
Every Time 03:14
EVERY TIME Every time I do the same thing Guess I’m doing something wrong Never was no good at dancing Been a wallflower all along How you got me on the floor I don’t know how And I don’t’ know what to do without you now Baby I could write a book about it And still read it all wrong Baby I could sing a song about it And still sound all wrong I don’t know how to read the situation And my radio can’t pick up no good station Chorus: I’ve tried everything and every way But it’s the same every time and every way And she’s every bit and every way The same damn girl leaving the same damn way Once upon a time I thought my dreams Were within reach of these arms Till someone came between us And our love fell apart I got a good look into his eyes Realized that reflection was mine Chorus Once upon a time the stars were out And the ocean played us a song Baby that feelings gone now Just like that night long gone Like waves my heart beat so strong Wondered how this could ever go wrong Chorus
7.
THE MUSIC HIGHWAY Well I hitched a ride to Memphis with a ragtag band They were chasin' Rock N' Roll and women in a van I was chasin the blues with the strongest whiskey I could get And chasin the truth and a tune in my head I've been riding these roads and slinging these songs Yeah from town to town I keep moving along But every now and then a little something I find That can make a town a little hard to leave behind Ooh ooh ooh ooh / ooh ooh ooh Well I tried my luck at love in Memphis before Mississippi'd flow backwards fore I’d try it once more But somewhere on her heart there was one weak spot An you could pick it just right on an ole flattop I dreamed a smokey kiss outside a’ Neil's Bar With her ass pressed up against some dirty, white car Me pressed up against her soft, white skin Like the soft, wet beads on a glass a’ gin Ooh ooh ooh ooh / ooh ooh ooh Well I lied and said soon I'd be back in town I didn't know that then, but I know that now You trust the art and not the artist I guess Cause who he is in a song is his idealized self You feel the whole city sing along When you tap the right vein in a hard blues song They warn the outta towners it's hard to draw Yeah they wonder why we ever come down here at all Ooh ooh ooh ooh / ooh ooh ooh ooh / ooh ooh ooh Well they call this stretch of 40 the Music Highway But I can't seem to make it sing today
8.
ONE FAST MOVE Like a drunk out on a tightrope in the sky Inching towards my death twenty stories high Don’t look down, don’t look up Don’t look in the mirror don’t look now Chorus: One fast move or I’m gone One misstep won’t take too long Mind is losing it’s hold One fast move or I’m gone Like a branded sinner on a front row pew Wondering if they all think that it’s true Don’t look proud, don’t look sad Don’t look at her, God least not now Chorus Sleep that does not refresh Limitations of the bone and flesh Don’t know how, don’t know why It’s all over if I don’t move now Chorus
9.
THE SILVER MOON SALOON Sitting alone at a table for two Outside a bar in Winston-Salem in June Waiting on someone or something to bloom Peeling a beer label at The Silver Moon Saloon The shop across the street it's the New Age Kind Incense and candles if God ever finds you It's new to the age but old to the mind And I pray that your God has mercy on mine Chorus: Hope you find me Hope you find me This neon's bound to blind me Hope you find me soon Oh tommorrow Oh tomorrow I'll be gone like the time I've borrowed Hope you find me soon At the Silver Moon Saloon The bartender got a new puppy I see She's holding him close, she's holding him gently From the bathroom prophets graffitti I read I pray that their God has mercy on me Chorus Sitting alone at a table for two Outside a bar in Winston-Salem in June Waiting on someone or something to bloom Peeling a beer label at The Silver Moon Saloon Chorus
10.
DREAMERS AND KINGS There’s snow on the hills and frost on the plains It’s gonna be a long lonely winter dark cold days The birds have all flown till silence becomes the song The space in the silence, haunts our thoughts all winter long Kings they come and Kings they go While the rest of us plow to the end of our row Get behind our mule hold steady the reins Thankful for the crumbs that fall our way Chorus: I have been a dreamer Though I ain’t been a saint I am a believer And that ain’t gonna change No I ain’t gonna change A new spring’s birth marked by songbirds return Winter melts away as the turning sun burns Shed old skin, old cares melt away Staring into the East, to greet him face to face Chorus
11.
BABY BROTHER'S GOT A BABY NOW Baby brother's got a baby now He's scared to death but I know he's gonna make it somehow I can't believe the way he looks into those little eyes Staring back at him the way he did at me one time I remember the day that they brought you home Carryin' you around till you were crawlin' on your own Till you were running to keep up always tryin’ Till you were fighting with me always tryin’ to drive Chorus: I turned around to look for you I couldn't find the boy I knew Instead there stood a man With a Father's hands I remember you so uneasy in our own Father's hands I remember you squirming around and him proud but sad He wasn't always there and I’ve come to know Those early years left a little hole in you both Chorus We turned around to look for you Couldn't find the boy we knew Instead there stood a man With a Father's hands Should write a sonnet about the love growing in his life should write his baby girl a sweet lullaby It would be an ode about a boy growing into a man An ode about a brand new Father doin' the best that he can Chorus We turned around to look for you Couldn't find the boy we knew Instead there stood a man With a Father's hands
12.
ON TOP OF A WORLD There’s a blank page in a notebook And the pen on the desk’s all outta ink There’s a blank canvas on an easel And the brushes are all dried up in the sink There’s an old guitar in the corner And she needs a new set of strings There’s a sparrow somewhere in the shadows And he’s lost his will to sing Chorus: When there’s no time for dreaming Into the ground lay my old bones I swear I’d rather be six feet under Than on top of a world with no hope Yeah a World without Art has no hope My mind’s humming like a locomotive And he’s ‘bout to come right off the tracks My heart she’s pounding like a hammer And she’s anxious as a heart attack There’s a honey colored Sun on the horizon And some cotton ball clouds scattered in the sky There’s a distant sound like children laughing And I can see her face when I close my eyes Chorus

about

Ten albums into an already acclaimed career, Stephen Simmons sharpens his rootsy folk-rock with A World Without, a record that mixes the twang of country music — a genre that provided the soundtrack for his childhood in small-town Tennessee — with the sharp observations of a singer/songwriter and the stomp of rural, roadhouse rock & roll.

A road warrior with an audience on both sides of the Atlantic, Simmons has spent most of his adulthood on stage, playing songs in ten different countries along the way. Recorded with members of his touring band, A World Without explores a life lived on the run, taking a look at the intersection between art, commerce, love, and travel. The songs are equal parts biography and fiction, with Simmons shining a light on those who travel and create for a living. There are tracks about Americans crossing the country during the Gold Rush, about puritans making a voyage overseas, about lovers becoming parents, and about Simmons himself.

A World Without also features harmony vocals from his father, uncle, and sister, a move that allows Simmons to pay tribute to the family members who've inspired his career. It's an album that hits close to home in more ways than one. Contributions from his longtime band members — including keyboardist Molly Jewell, guitarist Dave Coleman, pedal steel Alex McCullough, Drummer Tim Blankenship, Bassist Duane Blevins and producer/utility player Eric Fritsch — provide the backdrop for Simmons' voice, an alt-country croon inspired by everyone from Don Williams to Bruce Springsteen.


Released on Locke Creek Records (USA & all other territories)
and Blue Rose Records (Europe/UK)

credits

released August 19, 2016

Stephen Simmons: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, High String Guitar, Harmonica
Eric Fritsch: Electric Guitar, Slide Guitar, Waldzither Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, B3
Molly Jewell: Piano, Wurlitzer, Backing Vocals
Dave Coleman: Electric Guitar, Baritone Guitar, Multi Kord Guitar, Mando Guitar, Backing Vocals
Tim Blankenship: Drums
Duane Blevins: Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Alex McCollough: Pedal Steel Guitar
Smith Curry: Lap Steel Guitar
Stephanie Simmons: Backing Vocals
Wade Simmons: Backing Vocals
Glen Simmons: Backing Vocals

Produced by: Eric Fritsch and Stephen Simmons
Recorded and Mixed by: Eric Fritsch at Eastwood Studios
Mastered by Alex McCollough at Yes Master
Photography by: Heidi Ross
Design by: Adam Pinney

All songs written by Stephen Simmons
Published by Shiny Geode Music / SESAC
except SILVER MOON SALOON: by Stephen Simmons / Mando Saenz
Scrambler/Carnival Music / ASCAP
and PRELUDE written by Molly Jewell / Lucy Byrd Songs / SESAC
C & P 2016 Locke Creek Records
www.StephenSimmonsMusic.com

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Stephen Simmons Nashville, Tennessee

Stephen Simmons was raised in the small town of Woodbury, Tennessee. As a songwriter and Ten years as a Road Dog, Stephen’s vision has grown to entail more than just reflections of rural America. Stephen’s records (which were compared to everyone from Johnny Cash to Ryan Adams) combine virtuosic songcraft and musicianship with unparalleled artistic honesty. ... more

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