Szlachetka Premieres Video for “Bullet Through The Wind”

Szlachetka’s latest single “Bullet Through The Wind,” premiered here today on American Songwriter, finds the upbeat Nashville roots-rocker in a fragile, emotionally-reflective state. Determined to move forward from the insecurities that haunt him, Szlachetka sings:

Sometimes I feel my life
Is looking straight down a barrel of a gun pressed to my head
That voice buried deep inside
Whispering no you can’t you’ll never amount to nothing

“I think a lot of us (myself included) have those demons in the back of our heads from time to time,” he says. “You know, those voices that tell you ‘you’re not good enough, not worthy enough, don’t have a fighting chance.’  This song is telling that voice, ever so politely, to fuck off.”

That universal sentiment is sung in more melodically and politely, of course, when Szlachetka hits the chorus:

Oh, with my two eyes ahead like a bullet through the wind
I go on and on and I’m never looking back

Recording the song was a fairly organic process, just like Szlachetka prefers to work. Initial tracking began at his co-writer’s home studio before moving to producer (and Train founding member) Scott Underwood’s Thunderwood Studios.

The song’s chorus melody came first while Szlachetka was on an early morning jog in Nashville two years ago on Easter Sunday. “It was infectious and I couldn’t get it out of my head for the entire run.  I threw it on a voice memo and sent it over to my friend and frequent co-writer Brandon James.  We got together later that week and wrote the song.  After sitting on it for a while we both decided that we didn’t really like the second verse, so we rewrote that section and recorded the first demo at Brandon’s home studio.

Szlachetka moved the recording session to Blackbird Studios for tracking. “We got the ‘take’ we needed for basic tracking within three passes of the song. The time we spent at Blackbird felt like the ultimate clubhouse, it was an incredible sense of community.  It felt like a tribe and we were able to capture some amazing and intimate performances from everyone in the main band (Christian Wood- Electric Bass, Jimmy Wallace- Piano/ Organ).  The video captures the live performance in exactly the way that it felt to play it in the studio together.”

“We then laid down additional piano/ organ tracks and took it to Scott’s personal studio, Thunderwood Sound, for overdubs:  my main vocals, acoustic guitar and my electric guitar solo.” Sarah Aili and Brandon James joined us and added vocal harmonies and Craig Ferguson laid down a pedal steel track.  All in all, it probably took a couple days to capture all the parts needed for the song.”

The solo is a majestic and lyrical composition, punctuated by Szlachetka’s emotive touch-sensitive feel, with him fingerpicking the notes rather than using pick. “We had initially recorded it at Blackbird, but after more scrutiny decided to re-cut in order to get a different guitar tone that we were chasing.”

“Brandon and I wanted to infuse this song with the courage and strength that it takes to keep our eyes focused ahead like a bullet through the wind.  I think this song is perfect for our current global state of affairs with COVID-19.  Everyone is really scared right now and a lot of people feel pretty helpless against this pandemic.  It’s a reminder for all of us that despite how hard it can be, we will all get through this together.”