Wooden Wand, the folk-rock project of James Jackson Toth, is famous for experimenting with different musical styles. Slow-and-steady foot tapper “Motel Stationary” begins with the line “Betsy Weathers charmed the Jesus out of me/It was 1983,” then continues to paint a seedy-yet-romanticized picture of a motel visit. Who knows what Toth was actually doing in 1983, but his song, full of reverb, haunting female harmonies and a wailing guitar solo, puts you in the underbelly of roadside motels and bad decisions right alongside him. The track is off the double-disc, deluxe edition of Wooden Wand’s Briarwood, out April 17 via Fire. Download “Motel Stationary” below.
“Motel Stationary” (download):
One reply on “MP3 At 3PM: Wooden Wand”
Betsy Weathers? It’s “banshee wailers”.