First Impressions: “Not Much Changes” by JM Stevens

“Nothing stays the same, but not much changes,” sings folk-flavored singer-songwriter JM Stevens on this, the first taste of his forthcoming album, Wish on a River Bridge, which is due out in March. It’s him, his guitar and harmonica, singing about the reality too many of us face. Musically, it reminds me a lot of Neil Young circa Harvest Moon, while lyrically it’s a deft depiction of the uncertain economic times that has accented the working life for decades. Whether we take one step up or two steps back is beside the point; the fact is, no matter what economists tell us, our raises don’t keep up with the actual cost of living. Concert tickets have gone through the roof. Groceries and everything else, too. According to the Motley Fool, the average household owes in excess of $9000 to credit cards, whose usury rates make it all but impossible to pay off.

In other words, to twist a line from a certain Heartland troubadour, while the thrills and pills that kill have remained remarkably consistent, the bills for each have exponentially increased. Yet we still wake, roll out of bed, punch a real or proverbial time clock, and do it again and again until the workweek’s done, when blowing off steam generally means blowing out our budgets. In the words of Stevens here, “Feels like we’re sideways bound/But we get back up when we’re let down.” It’s a great song.