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Introducing Drew Hackney: Music that Moves Me & #SpreadTheKindness Link Up #140

vintage inspired dress, music dress, fashion over 40, black and white, white booties
This is a sponsored post. This Cami Musical Note Print Lace Up Dress was provided to me by Rosegal for purposes of this post. As always, all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.
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Cami Musical Note Print Lace Up Dress: c/o Rosegal

I have written a few posts in the past about the Power of Music and My Life in Songs and as I have been doing a lot of self-exploration lately, I am discovering that with life and all of its experiences, the music that moves me has been evolving and changing along the way. If you are a regular reader here, you are probably aware of my newfound love for bluegrass music as I had spent most of my summer weekends chasing the sweet relaxing elixir that the entire bluegrass community provides to my searching soul.

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Belt: Very Old
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Black Tights: Old

In my adventures, I have made some great new friends who are broadening my musical horizons even further. Through one musician friend (you all remember Carson from Fireside Collective), I have been introduced to the musical compositions of the very talented Drew Hackney. Based out of Chicago, Drew has been creating music for as long as he has been able to speak. His passion was discovered in a Fisher Price recorder that was gifted to him by his parents as a very young child in North Carolina. He has been recording music ever since.

Drew Hackney Music
Drew Hackney in Joshua Tree

Drew’s music is a contemporary hybrid of power pop, bedroom pop, and album-oriented rock. By mixing musical genres and incorporating non-traditional instruments, Drew has managed to create a unique and vibrant sound unlike anything that I have ever heard before. As far as I am concerned, he is also a lyrical genius, weaving together words and phrases that ease into your soul and reach you on a level that you thought was lost decades ago.

Drew Hackney Music
Drew Hackney in Joshua Tree

As a wordsmith myself, I appreciate the talent that allows for lyrics of this caliber to flow in such a way that they seemingly don’t even come from the individual writing them. But rather they are poured forth through the individual who has been granted the gift by some higher power and designated a vessel through which the brilliance can traverse space and time in order to be shared with the mortal world. And we, the mortal world, appreciate it so much when the music can move us in this way.

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Clutch: Very Old
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Jacket: c/o Zaful (Old)

Drew’s musical influences have evolved and changed throughout his life beginning with the North Carolina based alternative rock trio Ben Folds Five and San Francisco based punk rock label Fat Wreck Chords. Both of these bands saw their beginnings in the 1990’s and the first thing I recognized about Drew’s music was this 90’s inspired sound. It is a sound that I love as it fills me with a sentimentality for the innocent yet tortured days of my teenage years.

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Earrings: Old
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Necklace: c/o Happiness Boutique
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Boots: Forever 21 (Old)

Being an avid punk rock fan, Drew formed a band in high school called Buckit that danced the line between Fat Wreck Chords and modern pop music. Even at that young age, he was finding a way to blend seemingly opposed genres into a sound that was uniquely his own. Tapping into some old school roots, Drew formed The Old Regime during his college years. His music at this time was heavily influenced by the sounds of 70’s rock band Steely Dan in combination with the more progressive English bands from that era, Genesis, Yes, and King Crimson.

Drew Hackney Music
Drew Hackney at Venice Beach

He saw a shift in his musical tastes and what sounds influenced him post college graduation. Indie and electronic acts such as Pavement, Deerhunter, and Boards of Canada found their way onto Drew’s playlists and you can catch little hints of this influence in his current work. But mostly his solo music is heavily informed by the psychedelic works of the Australian project Tame Impala and the modern American indie folk sounds of Bon Iver. An unlikely aggregate to create an unexpected genre of music, but yet it is music that moves me. I suspect it will move you, too, and it is never a bad thing to introduce new music into your life.

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vintage inspired dress, music dress, fashion over 40, black and white, white booties

One of the first Drew Hackney songs that I heard was Nowhere and it gave me this sort of nostalgic feeling from my 90’s coming of age combined with the adult recognition that our lives are nothing but a complete amalgam of who we once we were, who we currently are, and who we have yet to become. I am not certain if that was Drew’s intent behind this lyrical composition but it is the emotion that the song made me feel. And it was a pretty powerful emotion that moved me. That is, after all, the purpose of music, isn’t it? To move people to feel something.

So if you are a music lover (I mean, who isn’t?) and if you are ready to explore something a bit different, creatively way outside the box of what you are hearing on the radio, and you simply want to be moved to feel something, check out Drew Hackney Music. While he can sometimes be found performing live at various venues in his local Chicago area, there is no need to wait. You can stream Drew Hackney Music on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Spotify, and iTunes. If you enjoy what you hear, be sure to click the like button or drop a comment letting Drew know. We all welcome feedback that validates our work and it is a perfect way to #SpreadTheKindness.

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Also, Drew will be releasing his new album The Missive this Friday. You can preorder now by clicking the link and you will automatically get the download of Nowhere with your preorder. And be sure to listen closely because you will hear my dear friend Carson White of Fireside Collective playing bass on 7 of the 8 tracks. And another member of Fireside Collective, Jesse Iaquinto, has contributed his talents on mandolin to tracks 1 and 8. A wonderful collaboration of amazing musicians.

This is another favorite song. I love when artists can use peaceful methods to creatively express political opinions on current issues. Beware, however, this song will get stuck in your head!

Also, if you need a cute music inspired dress for any reason or for no reason at all, check out the Rosegal Deals sale and be sure to enter code RGN20 at checkout for an additional 20% off your order.

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And now your featured favorites from last week.

Pam of A New Lens shared a wonderfully thought provoking post, Wise, Foolish, or Evil, where she reviews the book Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud. Pam has presented some great questions for investigation that I think will bring some clarity for many people. Definitely worth reading!

Wise, Foolish, or Evil by Pam of A New Lens

Anne of Spy Girl is currently hosting a fun link party featuring secondhand items plus this perfectly colorful tunic she discovered at the flea market in her post, #SecondhandSeptember My Local Flea Market. Go check it out and join the party!

Anne of Spy Girl

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Moved by music on the edge,

Shelbee

Linking up with these Fabulous Link Parties.

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I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.

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Shelbee on the Edge