“The Tree Still Bleeds” is the second single release of 2023, out on all streaming platforms on July 14. I remember back when I was a teenager in the early 2000’s and I was first starting to get into the guitar. I was obsessed with bands from the 1960’s and 1970’s despite it being a bygone era. I loved the guitar tones and the solos and yearned for modern music to return to a time when the guitar was king. In 2009 I started writing songs for the band I was in at the time with the specific intent of making music in the 1960’s format: catchy blues-based vocal hooks and lots and lots of guitar solos! “The Tree Still Bleeds” was born out of that time period.
The song lyrics came as a reaction to seeing peoples names and initials carved into trees. One particular tree I saw in a park had been freshly carved and sap was dripping from the initials carved into the bark. I thought of how painful and sad that is, that in striving to affix our mark into something we view as being more permanent than the present, we end up hurting and destroying the very thing we cherish. We can’t live in a beautiful world if we go around selfishly damaging it. Even if we think the big things, like trees, rocks, mountains etc. are strong and resilient, we have to start thinking about our impact and why we do things, instead of doing things on impulse just because it feels good. That’s where this song comes from.
Well, hopefully I made you think a little bit. And I also hope this song impacts you. At least I hope you like the guitar solos! :) -Allen