Now well into his new gig with Old Crow Medicine Show, young Nashville singer and songwriter Mason Via is still releasing singles from his upcoming bluegrass project with Mountain Fever Records.
The latest is one called Gettin’ Gone, about the feeling that hits a great many young people who are raised in a rural environment, thinking that there has to be something more out there for them in the wider world. It’s funny how a few decades in the rat race often finds these same folks yearning again for the simple life. It was his father, bluegrass and acoustic performer David Via, that had him living out in the country. We’ll have to watch and see how Mason’s life goes.
He says that he was longing for a change, which he has since made, when putting this song together.
“I grew up in a very rural area, a little small town you probably haven’t heard of in North Carolina, where you have to drive 35 minutes to get to the nearest grocery store. I wouldn’t have traded it for the world growing up on the river right next to a mountain. Hiking to the top of the summit by day and skinny dippin’ by night, you know good ole country living.
I had always dreamed of taking the big plunge and chasing that neon rainbow…praying there was a pot of gold at the end waiting for me. The bright lights of the Big City were not the only pearls that caught my eye, and I was plain hungry for something more than some 9 to 5 in the same old town I was born in. The way I figured it (and still do) is that this Earth is a pretty big place, and I wasn’t going to fully experience or truly understand it by simply reading about it or watching videos.
If you have read Kerouac’s On The Road, you might get where I’m coming from here. I was seeking some kind of purpose, and when I wrote this song, I was ready to drift with the wind wherever it was bound to blow.
Gettin’ Gone pays homage to that rambling spirit, and for those like me who yearn for the grand adventure, the greater purpose might lie just beyond that county line.”
Via plays guitar and sings the lead here, supported by Thomas Cassell on mandolin, Alex Genova on banjo, Sam Weiss on fiddle, and Ben Sommerville on bass. Nick Goad and Jacob Harbour provided the harmonies.
Have a listen…
Gettin’ Gone from Mason Via is available now from popular download and streaming services online. Radio programmers will find the track at AirPlay Direct.