With US history very much in the air in the wake of the celebrations of the country’s 250th anniversary, “Go West Boys,” the latest single from Grant Maloy Smith, is perfectly timed. If the media and marketing machines have naturally gone into overdrive with a hindsight-driven story of inevitability and whatever we are calling Manifest Destiny in these more enlightened times, of underdogs emerging victorious, carving a nation out of that vast landscape with their bare hands, Smith is here to tell a more realistic version of events.
His fourth album, Wild West: American Stories of which “Go West, Boys” is the first single and opening chapter, as the name might suggest, is a truer history of those years of westward expansion and settlement, a story even more exciting, even more full of great stories, even more hard won and often even darker, than the one told in via most film and TV portrayals. I often wonder why filmmakers invent their own versions of the past when real history is much more dramatic than their imaginations could conjure.
“Go West, Boys,” therefore acts as many things. A first taste of this important album to come: a trailer for the grand story it will bring to life: a readdressing of many’s understanding of history. More than that, it is a great tune. As such, it ticks all the right boxes while being an impressive country rocker, one woven from tumbling banjo and swooning violins, momentous beats and layers of heavenly harmonies. It captures the essence of the music of the times, via modern musicality, an echo of the birth of the country’s music drifting through the modern age.
And this is just the opening shot. Not just a great taster and tester of the waters, but the introduction to, via the 18-track double album and Smith’s self-penned, hard-cover accompanying book (more of which later), a timely retelling of the origin stories of that great nation.
