Whenever I travel, whether it be by automobile, airplane or train, I've always got a playlist or bank of tunes queued up to accompany me on my journey. "Open Roads," the reflective new single from Los Angeles-based indie musician J GRGRY (a.k.a. Joe Gregory), just rocketed to the top of my travel playlist. With its gorgeous, moving melody and anthemic chorus, Joe's emotive, soaring vocals, and brilliant production, "Open Roads" is the literal and figurative soundtrack to the quest for serenity, acceptance and exciting new adventures.
"Open Roads" tells the true story of Joe and his boyfriend, now fiancé, who decided to leave their hometown of Seattle, WA for the Greater Los Angeles area to record and develop their careers. Armed with a guitar, a synth, a studio in a box, a few contacts, and their dog Vox, they drove nonstop to a townhouse they rented by the beach in Ventura, CA. The next morning and every morning for the next month, between meals and long walks on the beach with his new family, Joe wrote and recorded demos of 23 songs, one of which is "Open Roads."
Open hands, open heart, and a desire for peace.
Yeah, open roads, they're all I can see.
Stretched out in front of me just like the open sea.
Yeah, and it feels like a dream whenever our eyes meet
Open roads, they're all I can see.
On more personal level, "Open Roads" is an epic love anthem with lyrics that metaphorically refer to Joe’s acceptance of being gay, coming out to friends and leaving behind the family that begrudged him for a clear path ahead with the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with. The song's emotive chorus literally refers to the traffic dissipating as the couple cleared the seemingly non-stop traffic between Seattle and Portland, OR the day of their departure for California.
Produced by Chad Schlosser (Billy Ray Cyrus) and Michael Johnson, and mixed by Grammy-award winning mixer and producer Craig Bauer (Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Ed Sheeran), "Open Roads" features Joe on vocals, piano, guitar and bass, Gil Sharone (Marilyn Manson, Team Sleep) on drums, Owen Barry (Dorothy, GRiZ) on guitar, and Kyle Hamood (Shuggie Otis) on piano.
Along with J GRGRY's stunning recent single releases ("Imagination", "Dinosaurs", "Haunted Horses"), "Open Roads" is set to appear on J GRGRY's forthcoming full-length album, expected for release next year. In the meantime, there's quite a bit in the works for J GRGRY, including potential TV and film exposure, as well some heavy touring on the open roads.
For more information, visit the official J GRGRY website, follow on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube) and find J GRGRY's music on Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud and iTunes.