“Transportation” (Thoughts on Gregory Alan Isakov)

When I first listened to Gregory I was sitting in a coffee shop on 21st avenue in Nashville.
It was raining out, I remember that. It was cold, and there wasn’t anywhere else I wanted to be but inside.
“That Moon Song” came on through my headphones and I was immediately transported about a thousand miles west of where I was.

I was walking in Estes Park, CO. Running after someone with long brown hair. She was smiling.
Then it was snowing.
Then the sun set and rose again.
Coffee fumes.
Written and unwritten letters.
Missed phone calls.
Farewells.

And then the song was finished. All of that, not even knowing he was from Colorado…until after.

Like me, Gregory is a songwriter. But coming to find someone who puts you into a setting is difficult if not impossible. He does something more than shape lyrics within his music. His music transports me to another time. One’s long gone. One’s I hope to come.

To feel a connection to another artist or writer speaks volumes, especially if it is only within the realms of an album. That being said, as a writer … as an artist … I feel Gregory speaks truth.

He is like Dylan, Young, or even Cash I would fancy to say. Not always knowing exactly what confession he is making, but knowing it is very intimate. Very much a “what if” at times. A “maybe if I had said this” sort of thing.

I truly look up to him for that. Not being afraid to say. Not being a man who backs down on his word.

He is truly an inspiration to me.

- Troy Akers (The CO)