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Rusty Reid - The Meaning of Life (Rio Paso Music, BMI)

11 November 2024

I love the fact that the subtitle of Heart to Heart, the album that this latest single calls home, is “A Revolutionary Manifesto in Song” because that exactly sums up the music that Rusty Reid makes. And although he has his political moments, in the literal sense of the meaning, his music tends to err on the side of the philosophical, the guiding, his ideas more meditative than incendiary, his lyrics much more likely to make you sit and contemplate than give you the urge to storm the barricades.

Here, he boils things down to their bare essence, their simple truths. For him, the answer to that much-contemplated question of life, the universe, and everything is simply to pursue happiness, find pleasure in simple things, open up your heart to others, and to love and be loved in return.

He pushes this message into the public consciousness with his usual blend of folk rock finesse and gentle country rock and roll, a deft and delicate arrangement of chiming guitars, simple truths, poetic imagery, and contagious grooves.

Rusty Reid might not have all the answers, but he certainly knows which direction we should all be heading in. And, while he can lead us to the water, he can’t make us drink; that is up to each individual. But what he does do, and do brilliantly, is remind us that we make life hard for ourselves. Get back to the simple pleasures in life, and you will find that you are already well on your way to happiness.

Who knew it was that simple? Well, Rusty Reid, for one!

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