As he describes himself as “raised on cornbread and Jesus in the southern Mississippi delta by a church pianist and a rock n’ roll drummer.”, Mississippi-based singer/songwriter Zechariah Lloyd flexes his rock n roll abilities on his upcoming EP “Heart in a Notebook” that’ll be out 14th of July, 2022. With mixed influences from blues to soul and country strengthened by a foundation of rock n roll legends, Lloyd took off into the music world in 2015 when he won the Vicksburg Blues Society’s Blues Challenge. And now, we’re going to get to know his sound better as we dig deeper into his new EP.
Zechariah Lloyd announces his bluesy roots loud and clear with the opening song “Down to the River ”, no wonder it won 1st place in Blues for both the Unsigned Only Competition and the International Songwriting Competition when released as a single in 2020! It has some sweet guitar licks and fluid melodies with the perfect guitar tone and a groovy catchy chorus all backed by Lloyd’s strong deep voice. Things get more emotional with “Waste these Days”, the sweet acoustic guitar melody and groovy percussion, and how it progresses from that into a fluid chorus filled with melodies. It has a melancholic vibe with Zechariah Lloyd’s deep mesmerizing voice that’ll make you listen to him carefully till the end. “Don’t Cry for Me” has a more energetic and modern sound. It has a bright intro melody followed by a bass-lead verse with some subtle guitar licks taking us to a super catchy chorus as usual. It has some parts that’ll sound awesome played live and can make the crowd sing along, especially the part starting around min 2:00 mark to the outro. Don’t let the nice acoustic intro of “Ain’t it Strange ” fool you, it has a funky groovy sound with the most fitting guitar tune, and a keys melody in the chorus that was layered smoothly and added a lot of texture and depth to the melody. Right from those heartfelt melodies in the intro, I knew “Heart in a Notebook ” is going to be my favorite song off this EP. Zechariah Lloyd lays some emotional vocals with a lovely flow and perfect delivery. The guitar melodies are flowing peacefully everywhere with various techniques and sounds creating an unstoppable flow of melodies backed by very enjoyable drums and bass lines. It shows Zechariah Lloyd’s songwriting and playing skills.
“Heart in Notebook” fuses a number of influences and genres into a unique sound. It has deep and emotional parts, it has lots of groove, and it has some neat bluesy guitar work and acoustic guitars all together in around a 17 minutes ride. It shows a lot of interesting songwriting skills and what’s even better, it is highly recommended for any music genre fan! Looking forward to more, cheers!
