A new single release from Big City Brian Wright delivers a classic and soulful country approach but intertwines rock guitars to give things a little bit of an extra edge all while combining that bountiful southern tonality with the feel of rock guitars and instruments like violins for example, really give the song a bit of an atmosphere that's all its own.
"Midnight Hauler" has a great drive to it. There's a push that lets the song have this natural and forward-moving flow, but it also has this stomp that gives it a unique energy.
You can hear a lot of classic country influence in this track, but it's a bit updated. It's like taking a classic country track and bringing it into a more current playing field so that you have the same soul but with a little bit of a new approach.
Now, Brian certainly isn't reinventing the wheel here, but he is taking influences that helped build who he is and he's creating something that's like a love letter to those artists and influences.
One of my favorite aspects about this track is how at times you have this expansive guitar rocking out with open chords while violin or fiddle lays out a solo.
What a genius combination of textures here and instead of just putting a regular guitar solo in there, they use the violin instead. This gave the song a little bit of extra layers and combined those textures to make something that still kept true to roots style country music.
Having said that, there is some outstanding guitar solo work, and just in general, the guitars are incredibly well-tracked and performed throughout this entire song.
There's something about this track that makes you feel like it was recorded live on the floor. Like they just hit the record button, and the band played live right there in the moment. It's like everyone involved was feeding off of each other's energies the entire time.
Listening to this track makes you want to go see them play alive in general. If they can capture this kind of energy on a recording, then seeing it live must be amazing.
The drumming on this release is outstanding. It's really part of the drive that pushes the song to exactly where it needs to be by providing not only a liveliness but at times, these super deep-in-the-pocket grooves while the guitars go nuts.
All of these elements are what let this song come to life but, it's Brian's vocals that give it personality.
Brian has that vintage country tonality to his singing approach, and it lets the track feel even more full-bodied with an extra layer of depth to it.
This track is the kind of song that you can feel in your bones. The energy of it all is completely infectious and it does an outstanding job of combining that character and personality with a bit of edginess, color, and loads of that southern-kissed soul and tone so that you get elements of old and new-school approaches across the board.
This was a banger of a single and upon listening to it I took a little bit of a deep dive into the back catalog of Big City Brian Wright. I'm glad I did because it seems like this single was the most recent in a series of them that have been released since 2023, and each one gives you a little bit of a glimpse into his songwriting approach, personality, and artistry.
Listening to this string of singles that have been released prior to this one really fills me in on more of that classic country influence with outstanding arrays of instrumentation and songwriting approaches that really hit perfectly. It feels like this track along with the past six releases prior might all be part of an upcoming album or EP.
These songs feel like they go together and can certainly be off the same record without question.
Each one of these lets his presence really shine but in a little bit of a different way every time.
It was a lot of fun to listen to all these tracks in a row and this is really what I suggest you do. You can start with "Midnight Hauler" and work your way back. Believe me, when I tell you, it's a lot of fun to do exactly that.
A lot of these songs are sing-alongs where you just want to belt out loud right alongside him. Either way you do it, make sure you listen nice and loud and remember where you heard it first.
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