Unlike many folks who identify New Years Eve as the beginning of the year, for me that process starts during Thanksgiving. It’s a day of identifying the things you’re thankful for certainly, but it’s also a moment for reflecting on the journey you took over the past year and a reminder that another year awaits filled with opportunity and a new adventure to go on. The transition from fall to winter. Deep and meaningful time spent with family. A wonderfully nostalgic feeling that envelopes every fleeting thought on those crisp autumn mornings. These are what the Thanksgiving holiday weekend feels like. And it’s also what Scenes From The Southside sounds like.
Bruce Hornsby is one of my favorite all-time piano players. His music and chord voicings have such a wonderful sense of sentimentality and wistful melancholy, delicate phrases that speak to emotions that cannot be verbally spoken– they must be communicated via sound. And there’s truly no one better than Hornsby at communicating those feeling. His music embodies homesickness for the time that has passed while simultaneously representing the hope for the days that lie ahead.
Which makes sense that Bruce Hornsby and The Range is an absolute go-to for me this time of year. And Scenes From The Southside is probably his all-time favorite album of mine despite not having “The Way It Is” or “The End of The Innocence” on it (yes the latter is a Don Henley cut but Hornsby’s piano is such a defining element of its sound that it must be included). From the uplifting opener of “Look Out Any Window” to the journey of “The Valley Road” to the epic closer “Til The Dreamings Done” this is the quintessential album that marks the beginning of the end of the calendar year. There’s not much like taking a walk in the morning, your shoes wet with the morning dew and the sun teasing its subtle warmth on your face while the air bites back, with Hornsby guiding you through that moment. A special album for a special time of year.
Standout Songs: “Look Out Any Window”, “The Valley Road”, “I Will Walk With You”, “The Show Goes On”, “Till The Dreamings Done”
