Used To Be The Next Big Thing opens with its title track, a driving, jangly roots-rock ripper about a Nashville musician on the brink of success that never comes, an expertly woven tale of the tragedy that occurs when the commodification of art takes the place of expression. From there, the record moves to the stripped-down acoustic country ballad “Loretta,” a eulogy for a lost companion inspired by The Louvin Brothers and Billy Joe Shaver that showcases Crist’s ability to blend genuine emotional expression with clever witticisms.

Elsewhere on the album, such as on the honky-tonk piano-led “Tears of a Fool,” Crist channels artists like Ray Price and Roger Miller to create a classic country barroom shuffle about regret and self-loathing. Occasionally, Maple Run Band do wade into the pool of sincerity, like on the album’s sweeping, seven and a half minute long closer, “Sunny Day,” which finds Crist singing in earnest about the need for support through dark days and belief in a brighter future. “‘Sunny Day’ was the quintessential pandemic song,” says Crist. “I literally wrote it to make myself feel better and to be like, ‘This shit is going to be over someday…right?’ But even with that, I wanted to write it more from the perspective of a character, not just my own perspective.”
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