“If you can’t say it, you don’t have to,” sings John Fullbright on “Bearden 1645,” the opening
track to his new record “The Liar.” The song details the GRAMMY-nominated songwriter finding refuge in playing the piano,
starting as a child and still today. For fans, it may feel like a bit of a rebuttal to “Happy,” the
opener from 2014’s “Songs,” one of several in his repertoire that speak explicitly about mining
one’s angst in order to make music. In that way, “Bearden 1645” is also a firm nod to the fourth
wall: Fullbright knows you’re thinking about his songwriting. He is, too…but not quite the way he
was before.
The public at-large hasn’t heard much from the him since the critically lauded “Songs,” a chasm
of eight years that seemed unthinkable for someone with so much hype—including a GRAMMY
nod, an Americana Music Association Emerging Artist nomination and awards from ASCAP and
the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame—surrounding his early career. Why did it take so long?
“It’s been a process of learning how to be in a community of musicians and less focusing on the
lone, depressed songwriter…just playing something that has a beat and is really fun,” Fullbright
said. “That’s not to say there are no songs on this record where I depart from that, because
there are, but there’s also a band with an opinion. And that part is new to me.”
