Local songwriter Saw Black is due to drop his new album, Water Tower this spring, and recently the Americana artist gave us a taste of what we can expect with his latest single, “Melted.”

In this single, the co-owner of Richmond’s Crystal Pistol Records, whose real name is Justin, puts an upbeat spin on a dark subject. “Melted” explores addiction, specifically opioid addiction and overdose and the impacts it can have on those who use and the people around them.

It’s a personal song for Black, who said he was inspired to write the song after hearing of a few of his former Powhatan High School classmates who overdosed on prescription opioids.

“It was a few years ago, a brother and step sister overdosed together and he died, and she was in a coma and eventually came out,”  he said. “I played baseball with the guy at a young age, their story was the most gripping to me. I thought it was a super scary thing, and I just felt like it was super sad, but an important story to tell.”

But at first, Black said he was apprehensive about making a song that was loosely based on the two, and tackling addiction in his music.

“I really didn’t know how we were going to make it work, I didn’t want the arrangement…the music of the song to be as depressing as the lyrics,” he said.

Luckily, his brother Parker Black and local musician and the other half of Crystal Pistol, Pete Curry stepped in to make Justin’s vision come to life and ultimately created his favorite song on the record.

“They really helped with the arrangement, bringing it up to almost that kind of disco beat, and I felt like that really made the song,” he said. “I think songs are really cool, oftentimes, when there’s sad lyrics, but the song sounds happy. It kind of sets the stage for the lyrics.”

While happy, spirited cheerleaders grace the cover of the upcoming album, and the guitars give the song an upbeat tone, the lyrics are heavy and powerful and paint a vivid picture of an everyday reality and struggle for so many people making for an almost hauntingly beautiful song.

The most recent CDC study shows opioid deaths are at an all-time high across the country. In 2016, opioids (including prescription opioids, heroin, and fentanyl) killed more than 42,000 people, more than any year on record. And the epidemic is growing rapidly in Virginia as well, with 1,268 people dying in 2016 from an opioid overdose, and of that number, 465 of those deaths caused by prescription opioids.

He’s personally known three other people close to him to overdose on opioids so it’s an issue that hits Black close to home, another reason he wanted to make the song.

“Now with fentanyl that’s being used to cut all sorts of different drugs, we’re just seeing more and more of this stuff happening,” he said. “It’s created a lot of people {who become addicted} that are not even crazy drug users because they don’t know exactly what they’re getting.”

Black recorded “Melted” a year ago at Russell Lacy’s studio Virginia Moonwalker in Mechanicsville. Curry played bass on the track, with Black’s brother Parker on drums, along with Doug Fuller on lead guitar, and Matthew Kuester on pedal steel. The single is the second song that Black has dropped ahead of Water Tower’s release. The video for the title track “Water Tower”, which was directed, filmed, and edited by  Chris Damon of Good Day RVA premiered on For Fork’s Sake last month. The forthcoming album will be Black’s follow-up to his debut, Azalea Days.

Black’s hope with “Melted” is to help someone who may be grappling with an addiction as well as urge people to reach out to their friend or someone else around them who is battling addiction.

Be on the lookout for an article on RVA Mag on Black’s forthcoming album, Water Tower, due out on Charlottesville-based WarHen Records as well as Crystal Pistol Records May 18. Until then, you can catch Black at Friday Cheers June 1 with Tyler Childers, which will be the first Richmond show after the album comes out. Following the release, Black plans to tour in June, with a show later in the month at Hardywood. You can pre-order the vinyl of the album here.

Photo By: Tom Daly Photography 

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond