Monday Music Review- Nathan Lienard

Monday Music Review on Sunday? Yes, because Monday comes quickly and I want you to be prepared in the morning when you roll out of bed in need of coffee and a good tune to get you moving. So, for this blog, the Monday Music Review comes a day early because it’s my party. And that’s the way I want it.

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy the fact that most of the MMR artists thus far have been artists you didn’t know but now wonder how you ever lived without. Today we have another of those artists who makes me want to call my local radio station and say “How is it that you don’t know this phenomenal artist?” Welcome to my playlist, Nathan Lienard.

I was perusing the internet on Friday and saw that a great friend from college, Melissa, had posted a facebook status about Nathan’s new single. They are friends and any friend of Melissa’s is a friend of mine so I checked it out and knew immediately, if not sooner, that Nathan Lienard had to be this week’s MMR.

Toward the end of his college career, Nathan traded his baseball bat for a guitar and has been playing, singing, and songwriting ever since. And my biggest complaint about that is that I didn’t know it before now. Nathan describes himself as having a “chilled out coffeehouse style”. I would agree; Nathan’s sound is rich and mellow, his lyrics clear and beautifully simple. He truly has a way with words and if you ever need a romantic line, Nathan should be your go-to guy. He has a sound that would easily carry you through a day at the office, and songs that have a similar vibe but aren’t cookie cutter so you could replay his 2009 CD The Road is Long over and over without getting bored.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a zillion times, I love lyrics. I learn them, write them down, repeat them. I want them to matter to me, to be words I might use, to be lines that make me think, “that’s just what I meant to say but didn’t know how to say it.” Nathan Lienard must be in my head somewhere because he understands this to a degree not found in many of today’s artists. I love the sentiment of “I can’t see two days from now, tomorrow’s in the way” in the song Dear Friend. It’s a gentle reminder to focus on the present and to cherish each moment. “No time for details, got the big picture on my mind. No need for who, what, when, how, or why” in The Road is Long reminds me not to sweat the small stuff. For this type-A personality who often gets sidetracked by the details, this is a reminder I need often.

Nathan Lienard has a newly released song, Time Machine, which seems to be a bit of a detour from his previous album. This song is a bit more peppy, a little flirty, and just downright fun. It tells me that Nathan Lienard is using his second musical project to stretch and to grow, to see where his always-reaching musical wings will take him. I believe (and there are lots of Williamsburg, Virginia fans who will agree with me) that Nathan Lienard is taking flight in the contemporary easy listening musical world and that his journey will be that of a rising star.

A kind word of advice for you, friends: before you listen to his songs, make some room on your iPod because after you hear Nathan Lienard, there will be no doubt that you’ll want to download the album. Happy listening, friends!