Singer/songwriter John Baumann’s thoughtful “Next Ride Around the Sun,” premiering below, advises the listener to live life with kindness and gratitude since “there’s nothing that you can take with you when your time is done.”
After the surprisingly delightful Mellotron opening, “Next Ride Around the Sun” takes on a tone similar to the Lori McKenna-penned “Humble & Kind” both melodically and thematically. The tune takes on added significance as the COVID-19 pandemic has so many of us sheltered in place, waiting for our lives to resume.
“The song was born from an appreciation for the here and now,” Baumann tells Billboard. “I remember talking with my father-in-law one night and him saying, ‘enjoy every second.’ He seemed so earnest and genuine when he was saying it to me. And it stuck. It’s truly apropos to the time we’re living in, but it’s an ethos that we should heed all the time. I wrote the song by myself, with the chorus being the bedrock.”
She adds, “The chorus was the first thing I wrote for the song, and it holds the most weight for me lyrically, especially the two lines ‘nobody’s got a day guaranteed’ and ‘as you age time is gathering speed.’ I think they both ring true universally.”
In addition to his solo career — his album Country Shade comes out June 5 — Baumann is a member of The Panhandlers, along with fellow Texans Josh Abbott, William Clark Green and Cleto Cordero. He also wrote “Gulf Moon,” which appeared on Kenny Chesney’s 2018 album Songs for the Saints.
Baumann recorded Country Shade at Modern Electric studio in Fort Worth and the album reflects the influence of fellow Texans Guy Clark and Robert Earl Keen. The two narratives driving the album, he says, are the changing state of rural America and the passage of time and how it affects our relationships.
“I think one of the best feelings in the world is when you’ve made an impact on somebody’s life,” Baumann says of making music in his bio. “It gave me encouragement to record some of these songs I’ve been playing live for a while. Time is fleeting, and how important it is to do what you can, while you can.”
