Blue Water Highway stripped their blue-collar alt-folk down to its acoustic roots for their latest release, and the result is sonically masterful and emotionally compelling. The Shotgun Seat is excited to premiere the video for “Ain’t Gonna Give Up,” a beautiful ballad nestled toward the end of the album.
Lead singer Zack Kibodeaux shares of the song, “Being on the road can be tough. A lot of other people can have it tougher—I know this, I come from a family of policemen—but it is still hard for families to be apart from each other no matter what. There is nothing more important to me than my family, and working hard to provide for them. Luckily technology these days makes some things a lot better, and I can FaceTime my girls multiple times every day. My daughter, Zoe, now asks to see and talk to every member of the band. This song was written for her. The words, “Ain’t gonna give up on you,” originally came to me one night on the guitar, quiet and strong, just like a lullaby. By the time we had finished the original album, it took on a different coat, as songs sometimes do. In this stripped down version, I went back to the lullaby. When the band got a hold of it, they helped bring the magic to it the way that only they can do. I love it and I’m excited for y’all to hear it.”
You can hear this and more of Blue Water Highway’s gorgeous sound on the new stripped version of their 2018 album Heartbreak City, which they released earlier this month.