“Never Leave You Alone”, the first single from Shadows, is a haunting melody that leaves you both comforted by a promise that "love will never leave you…” and yet stirs an uneasiness in our psyche as we wrestle with the concept of commitment from a love that will be constantly lurking even if we run away. 

Story behind Never Leave You Alone

When I sat down at a piano to write the song Never Leave You Alone, it was less of an attempt to write a song and more of an effort to alleviate some pain and stress.  A lot the songs from this album were like that, mini self-reflection sessions that came out as diary entries with confessions like “love, has never come easy. It’s always been a struggle for me...”

Some people I had really trusted treated me and my family very badly. It left me reeling and very disoriented like I had lost the way. 

I was trying to find the truth in my thoughts, sifting through anger and weighing what was right and what was wrong in my motives and feelings. That time in my life felt like a dark hallway I was stumbling down and I was just trying to feel my way around until I could see some light so I could get back to the life I loved. 

In the end the pain of my moment exposed the lack of love I had towards others that treated me wrong. It showed me my desire to please people would never be satisfied so I decided to starve that desire to please people and instead devote my attention to chasing this elusive greater love, a love that absorbs blows and retaliates with kindness. One that could receive harsh words and return with sincere affection and a desire for peace and reconciliation. It’s “a battle one can only progress on their knees.” 

Sometimes this love is elusive like seeing a specter in a dream or vision and other times this love is as tangible as electricity, you just have to find the source of its power. When I found that, the light came on again in my life.

Never Leave You Alone (Single)

Juxtaposed with beautiful melodies honestly raw lyrics, Scaring The Dark” tells the story of Vess' encounter with a dark time and the light the that drove it out.  

Story Behind Scaring the Dark by Vess 

“Didn't know I was missing puzzle pieces 
Didn’t know they were scattered in the dark
Didn't know I was missing puzzle pieces
It was driving me insane 
driving me insane, 
driving me insane  
Then you called my name…"

This song came to me shortly after the birth of my daughter Josie.   Up until the time she was born, I started to have a feeling of emptiness and longing, like something was missing even though my life was very full.  

It was like I was putting a one hundred piece jigsaw puzzle together, but only having ninety-nine pieces.  I knew for me, that no matter how complete my life would be, I would personally always feel somewhat  vapid and unresolved.  

When my daughter was born the feeling cocktail of fear and joy were overwhelming.  Suddenly you are handed this beautiful creature that looks like you and her mother and you’re joyful beyond words; but that joy quickly turns into terror the moment you are left alone with a baby and the weight of that responsibility hits you like a ton of bricks. 

In that moment the fear of messing this up overwhelms you to the point that all your selfish desires and behaviors leading up to this moment are told to get in line because there is someone more important cradled in the palms of your hands. 

The responsibility of loving and caring for someone else helps to drive out a darkness we all tend to deal with.  Before my daughter was born, I was dealing with a lot selfishness and that selfishness in me led to days where I felt so depressed. Sometimes those days try to come back around, but I’m learning that a perfect love is a selfless love.

Scaring the Dark (Single)

Scaring The Dark (Single)

Story Behind Haunting Me

Haunting Me carries with it an idea of a love that has been haunting me like a Spirit, studying me up close while I sleep, and interacting with me while I’m awake.  Its a love that adores me, yet stays elusive and coy all the while.  

This song started out as bits and pieces of an unfinished concept but really came together in the studio both musically and lyrically.   Some of the lyrics were finished just prior to me going in to sing them.   Some songs are just like that I suppose; they don’t take on a tangible existence until you’re forced to complete them.  

Everything else that is around the song sonically was lot of fun to create and Haunting Me ended being a great single from the album as a whole.

Haunting Me

Haunting Me (Single)

Haunting and mesmerizing.  VESS brings a solid track that forces one to contemplate their past, present and future in the eerie single "My Shadow".

Produced by Michael Finster (MHTC Production)
Released by Four Finger Records
Recorded at Snug Record Studio
(C)2017 Bear Cub Josie Publishing 
All Rights Reserved

Shadows

My Shadow

www.fourfingerrecords.com
www.vessmusicofficial.com 

Songs of great sincerity and palpable emotional depth, anthems of revelrous celebration, ballads where darkness encounters the light, and psalms of earnest love; these are the kinds of musical expressions Vess has been writing his whole life and now, with the help of producer Michael Finster, this combination of lyrical strength intertwines with an orchestral-like vibrancy to deliver Vess’ new album Shadows. 

With Shadows, Vess emerges from the dense fog of a fatally shallow pop culture to deliver a timely message: Love is real, it’s eternal and it’s worth fighting for. Shadows is the culmination of one man’s journey with love, self-doubt, redemption and the divine. 

These are the themes that weigh heavy on the mind of a seasoned troubadour like Vess, a man who has spent his life honing his craft. Born and raised in North Carolina, he spent his formative years on the coast, calling Cape Hatteras home for many years.  But his NC roots spread wide as much of his family are from the mountains, while he himself resides now in the central part of the state in Salisbury, NC with his wife and baby daughter.  

Free in his sonic exploration, the sounds emanating from Vess’ songs are of a tone one would find in a cinematic production. In his songs the musical stage is lavishly set for imaginative stories that are deeply captivating in their honesty; his music is heavy with this kind of harmonious effervescence that satisfies the soul and yet tantalizes the imagination to leave it aching for an expansive journey beyond our current horizon. It is happily devoid of myopic superficiality and instead, is filled with sustenant hope even in its darkest moments. 

“Never Leave You Alone”, the first single from Shadows, is a haunting melody that leaves you both comforted by a promise that "love will never leave you…” and yet stirs an uneasiness in our psyche as we wrestle with the concept of commitment from a love that will be constantly lurking even if we run away. 

From the soaring ethereal glow of “Scaring The Dark”, to the uplifting neo-gospel exultation of “Warm Heart, Thick Skin”, Vess’ lyrics and music pull you out of the pablum of the ordinary and invites you into a new world, a more hopeful world, where true love is real, and eternity is near. Vess creates a refreshing art that is as unabashedly authentic as it is spellbinding. 

Bio credit: John Littlefield


Born: 1979 Salisbury, NC 
Siblings: 1 younger brother
Spouse: Jessica Vess
Children: Josie Grace Vess
Instruments: Voice, guitar, piano, keys, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, drums, percussion and bass
Musical Inspirations: Michael Jackson, Johnny Cash, David Bowie, Jeff Buckley Al Green, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Brandon Flowers, Ryan Adams