Ron A McNeill – “Calling All You Heroes”

Ron A McNeill – “Calling All You Heroes” – Single Review

“The world today could use a few more heroes.”  Preach the good word, Ron A McNeill.

I’d be a foolish man to disagree with sentiment like that now wouldn’t I?

Let’s see here…hmmm…how do I feel about Ron’s new single “Calling You Heroes” exactly?

I mean…to be honest with ya, I have a hard time not hearing this song as pretty much the textbook definition of a quintessential Country/Americana tune.  Like, if you put this single under the microscope and took a good long look at its DNA, you’d find all the right ingredients that have built this combo-genre into the timeless songs y’all know and love to this very day.  We’re not talkin’ about the being-drunk-in-the-back-of-a-pickup-truck or the my-wife-and-dog-and-blue-collar-job-all-left-me-at-once type of Country, no – we’re talkin’ more about the stoic sturdiness side of its sound that has something more substantial to offer you.  It’s still PLENTY Country for my own personal taste, yes indeed…but if YOU are a fan of the genre, it sounds like Ron’s got something here that you’ll want to turn up on your way to the ol’ 9-5.

You could check it all by its individual components to verify what I’m saying.  Does “Calling All You Heroes” mention the troops?  You betcha.  For at least 85% of the Country Music fans, that alone right there is enough to get ya listening, and you know that’s the truth.  Does it mention how “cowboys never cry?”  Sure does, partner!  Reference to angels?  Check!  Values-based?  Yup!  Seeing the light & all that?  Uh-huh!  Freedom?  Mmm-hmm.  Love and grace?  Double-check.  Heck, there’s even a Mother Theresa shout-out in here just for good measure too.  I’m not here to argue against the fact that if you were to type in ‘typical Country lyrics’ into your AI machines that it would likely spit something real close to what you’ll find Ron singing about on “Calling All You Heroes,” but I like to think that’s probably because the machines are learning from guys like this man, that sincerely mean the things that they’re singing about.

So…on the one side of things, familiarity can be a powerful tool in making music.  The more that people can identify with what they’re listening to, the easier it becomes to get them to listen in many ways.  I’m always going to advocate on behalf of doing things differently than they’ve been done before, but I ain’t everyone, and I’d never be the guy to tell you that my opinion is the only one that matters when that clearly isn’t the case.  The flipside of the coin is that doing what’s been done in so many iterations in the history of music before, is that it’s so much harder to appreciate or pinpoint any uniqueness that would set Ron apart from anyone else that’s written about similar things before him in the Country realm.  I’m not disputing the quality of the performance/production here – everything sounds great, and like I said from the get-go, ultimately Ron’s working within a timeless theme that listeners still seem to love year after year after year.  A quality tune is exactly that as far as I’m concerned.  For people like myself that spend every single day of their lives immersed in music and listening to everything under the sun, we end up naturally craving uniqueness and originality more than anything else – but that wouldn’t be a reflection of how the average everyday listener hears their tunes.  They want things they can sing along with…they want themes that they can relate to…they want that uplifting atmosphere that always has them reaching for the volume to turn the music they love UP to the rafters, and I’d be the first to tell you that Ron’s supplied you with those three core ingredients in “Calling All You Heroes.”  Like I also mentioned from the start, I agree with everything he’s singing about here too…I just find myself wishing that someone else would listen to what he’s singing about and DO something about it, but alas, we’re not living on that timeline right now.  I hate to say it, but good ol’ Ron could sing until he’s blue in the face – we’ve already established that there ain’t no one comin’ to save us, despite how much we might hope that they’ll show up at the eleventh hour.  “All that I see lately is a world gone to hell,” sings Ron, to which I find myself thinking, yup, he’s right about that, and go back to doing whatever it is I’m doing knowing there ain’t a damn thing he or I or anyone can do about the path of destruction that we’re on.

Real survival in today’s world is simply becoming comfortable with our own self-imposed annihilation.  If you can’t get to that kind of reasoning, you’re bound to be severely struggling mentally right now, likely to the brink of anxiety and exhaustion combined.  Don’t get me wrong, I sympathize GREATLY with you, but I have to be objective about how impossible it is to repair all that we’ve broken at this point.  The next politician isn’t going to fix it.  The next government isn’t going to be any better than the last.  Your neighbors will barely look at you.  There is no Superman coming to save us.  Sorry.  I appreciate Ron’s optimism, believe me…heck, I can even remember so far back as to having a similar attitude myself…but that optimism in me has long been replaced by a cold realism that accepts what’s in front of me for what it is, rather than what it isn’t.  I suppose that’s what songs like “Calling All Our Heroes” are really for though…when we’re feeling without hope, you can lean on someone like Ron who hasn’t yet given up.  I think his resilience is admirable, I truly do…and I can’t imagine that I’d be the only one feeling that way.

So while, yes, “Calling All Our Heroes” will absolutely resemble something that you’ve heard somewhere along the way in music at some point before, it’s always hard to argue against a song well sung, you know what I mean?  This is one of those highly crafted singer/songwriter types of tunes that sounds like it was created in a lab in the heart of Nashville, but those kind of songs are still in as high of a demand as they’ve ever been when it comes to what ends up on the people’s playlists out there.  McNeill sounds comfortable, steady & reliable in playing Americana/Country music, and despite all the similarities you might be able to pinpoint that remind you of something else, he still has the kind of authenticity that matters when it comes to the final product… and if he’s not too careful, he might just bring back some hope that there are still a few good people out there ready to do the right things.

Find out more about Ron A McNeill from his official website at:  https://ronamcneill.com

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