Rising country singer Ben Gallaher is cursing his four wheels in his latest release.
Videos by American Songwriter
The fiery breakup ballad “Damn This Truck,” which American Songwriter premieres below, hums with heartbreak, sputtering and groaning under the weight of a love lost. About a truck that clings to painful memories in its leather and chrome, the tune plays Damn this truck, it’s got a mind of its own / Tryin’ to track her down like an old bird dog / Playin’ her favorite song on the radio / Flyin’ down every blacktop and dirt road / It’s gettin’ all sideways on me ‘cos I messed it up / Damn this truck.
The song was, in fact, inspired by the singer’s own trusty mechanical steed. “I’ve been driving the same truck since I was 16,” Gallaher tells American Songwriter. “At this point, it’s become, ‘How long can I get this thing to run.’ Every now and then I have to push it to start, but then it runs like it’s brand new. Go figure.
“That’s where the, damn this truck, it’s got a mind of its own lyric and idea came from,” he continued. “I wrote it with Neil Thrasher and Kelley Lovelace, and we turned that idea into a heartbreak song personifying the truck. My favorite lyric in it is the bridge, missin’ her as bad as I do, sometimes I wonder who’s driving who.“
Listen to his heart-aching anthem, “Damn This Truck,” below.
“Damn This Truck” arrives ahead of his full-length debut album, Country in the House, which is set to drop on Friday (Feb. 24).
“This album tells my story personally, as well as musically,” he shares of his forthcoming release. “My hope is that listeners feel something and connect to these songs when they hear them; whether that’s through a lyric, a melody or a guitar solo.
“I’ve always looked at a guitar solo as an extension of the lyric because of the emotion it can stir. My team and I narrowed down these 15 songs from a couple hundred that I’ve written in the past few years, and I’m pumped that they’re finally out in the world.”
Country in the House Track List:
1. “Country in the House”
2. “Get On One”
3. “Still a Few Cowboys Left”
4. “Every Small Town”
5. “Til It’s Yours”
6. “Roots Grow Down”
7. “Country, Boy”
8. “Lovin’ You Gets in the Way”
9. “Damn This Truck”
10. “Anything But You”
11. “Never Get Old”
12. “Have You Ever”
13. “Town Ain’t Dry”
14. “Love You Like America”
15. “Quote the Bible”
Photo by David Abbott / Courtesy of Elicity Public Relations
