After competing earlier this year on season 26 of The Voice and gaining support of new fans, including Adam Levine, Muscle Shoals, Alabama-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Bay Simpson wanted to announce his next chapter as a solo artist in a major way. He’s doing that today with the release of his new song “Too Good To Be True”, which SWT is thrilled to premiere for you today.
You can listen to the song below:
Bay Simpson – “Too Good To Be True”
He says the song, which he wrote with the help of Brian Maher and James LeBlanc, “marks a transition into my solo career” following the national televised competition. A press release describes the song as a “nostalgic rock ’n’ roll anthem reflecting on growing up in the early 2010s and the realization that some of life’s most meaningful moments are only understood after they’re gone.”
“There are many things from the past that feel ‘Too Good To Be True,’ and this song is just the beginning,” Simpson tells SWT. “This song was inspired primarily by the feeling of not appreciating what you have until it’s gone. While it specifically reflects on youth and high school, the overall theme is nostalgia and reflection.”
Those themes are reflected in lyrics such as “It was July 2012/summertime and hot as hell/A bunch of kids just trying to be cool/Mary was my teenage crush/Our first kiss was such a rush /Fallin’ in the deep end of the pool.”
It’s the first of several singles he has planned to release this year, leading up to an album release later this year.
Socially, the song draws on many of the sounds that drew him to performing and writing music professionally. He describes his sound as “heartland rock, the same genre that includes artists like Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen.” He also name-checked Neil Young and ’90s music as major influences on his writing.
“I’m an Alabama boy who loves to play electric guitar and tell stories honestly, with a bit of energy and edge,” he says. “On top of that, my family, who are all musicians, have taught me so much and shaped the way I approach music.”
Adam Levine noticed that during Simpson’s recent audition, saying, “It’s in your bones. The tone and the way you delivered the vocals really showed me an understanding of rock ’n’ roll music… This dude is awesome.”
That authentic nature comes from years of hard work playing music gigs. Growing up in the legendary music town of Muscle Shoals and frequenting the studio and stage, Simpson learned early, according to a press release, “What it meant to pour heart, grit, and truth into a song.”
When he was 20, Bay got his first major break as a songwriter when Kid Rock recorded and released his song “Never Enough.” According to the press release, “That early success fueled years of touring, writing, and fronting his country-rock band, Outlaw Apostles, where he shared stages with legends including Dwight Yoakam and Jamey Johnson. Those years on the road shaped his sound, raw, soulful, southern, and unmistakably his own.”
He also gained experience as part of a musical group named The Family alongside Dylan LeBlanc, James LeBlanc, and Angela Hacker.
That confidence fully shines through on the new single. We here at SWT are excited to see where Simpson goes next!
You can follow and listen to Bay Simpson at the following links:
His website: Baysimpson.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/bay.simpson.9
Instagram: Instagram.com/baysimpsonmusic
Spotify: Bay Simpson on Spotify
YouTube: Youtube.com/@baysimpsonmusic
Joshua is co-founder of Scummy Water Tower. He’s freelanced for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including: Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Guitar World, MTV News, Grammy.com, Chicago Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, MKE Lifestyle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, A.V. Club, SPIN, Alternative Press, Under the Radar, Paste, PopMatters, American Songwriter, and Relix. You can email him at josh@scummywatertower.com.
