As the saying goes, if you fall off the horse, you move to Nashville to write songs and make country-rock records. A former cowboy and multi-talented Americana artist, Ross Cooper, did just that several years ago. Today, Cooper shares “Hello Sunshine” from his third studio album, Chasing Old Highs, on American Songwriter.
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The record follows 2018’s I Rode the Wild Horses, a narrative collection of songs set in his West Texas home. Cooper, a Lubbock-native, detailed a life filled with hard-learned lessons. His rugged transition into music awarded him the authentic cowboy country sound he continues to deliver. A knee injury put an abrupt halt to his rodeo career but propelled him to Nashville to pursue music. His western style of riding translated well in music city, where his writing landed him cuts from Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen, and William Clark Green.
Chasing Old Highs thematically follows suit from his previous work, but he continues to push stylistic boundaries. At the center of the record is an unexpected guest that resounds throughout the entire collection. A family friend that passed left Cooper with a priceless mid-century Gibson J-50 guitar. When producer Oscar Charles recognized that unmistakable sound on his early recordings, he demanded the Gibson’s vital role in the album’s sonic construction.
“Oscar knows songs, and I knew I wanted the sound to match the songs above all else,” Cooper said. “A single-coil telecaster and that J-50 really defined so much. The tele gave it some of that desert sound, maybe a little romanticism. But, it was that old acoustic guitar that set the stage. It had a space all its own.”
“Hello Sunshine” kicks off the 11-track album with a dose of promise and positivity. This rose-colored rendering came to life with the help of co-writer Mike Walker. “This song started with the hook, and we worked backward,” Cooper explained. “We wrote it as a finger-picker with guys like John Hartford and Roger Miller in mind because, to me, the hook of the chorus kind of felt like something in that vein.”
Inspired by the feeling of waking up on a good day, the lyrics detail, “making those plans you’d been putting off or tying up your loose ends.” “It’s about recognizing those days, especially when they don’t come around often,” Cooper offered.
Cooper is proud of the single, placing it at the top of the list as an album opener. It eases into the more severe storytelling that follows while wielding new meaning in the current context of things. “Throughout my time as a songwriter, I’ve piled up more sad songs than happy ones,” Cooper shared admittedly. “But, I’m proud of this one because it’s more than just being happy, it’s about being hopeful. And not every day is going to be happy, but not every day is hopeless.”
The artist went back and forth with the idea of releasing this particular song now, given the pandemic-stricken climate and ongoing social unrest. After much deliberation, he decided to share, with good reason.
“I think people want something to look forward to, and I know people are hopeful. I’m not saying we should smile and wave and pretend everything is fine, but I think it’s alright to be thankful for even the smallest things. When we wrote this song, I was thankful for pretty basic things: being above ground with air in my lungs and optimism.”
Listen to the premiere of “Hello Sunshine” from Ross Cooper’s forthcoming album, Chasing Old Highs. Pre-save the new single, due July 10th.
