Alex Blum takes stock of where he is, where he’s going and where he’s been in his new single Hometown — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
There’s an adage that says home is where you hang your hat. But for North Carolina blues-rocker Blum, the one that says you have to leave home in order to come back might be more apt. The musician’s travels resulted in his latest single Hometown, a groove-riddled homage to where he grew up and the good-natured attitude of its inhabitants.
“Hometown is a song I wrote while far from home, and it had truly been too long since I had been in my hometown,” says Blum, who was raised in Chapel Hill but is now based in Charlotte. “I had taken a trip full of idealism, hitch-hiking between off-grid communes and eco-villages and other various alternative living communities across the country and working very hard trying to contribute to what I thought was a positive mission. But the communities were beset by bickering, gossip, and slander, which I would have thought was part of ordinary life, but people would really kick each other out of a living situation over the most petty grievances.”
Blum felt betrayed by people who were “completely dishonest and openly manipulative” yet who professed to “trying to make the world a better place.” After ending up in California, he pined for home, a place “where people truly knew each other” and held each other to a higher standard. Left with either dealing with the proverbial backstabbing or speaking out in the hopes that clearing the air would result in progress, Blum picked the latter.
“The point here is not to settle old disputes, but to reflect on life and glean lessons that we all can learn,” he says of Hometown, which was also inspired by a Biblical passage (“Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.”) “It’s a song about venturing out into the world and discovering people are way less trustworthy than you had thought or hopes, and finding out about yourself in the process — all the while missing your hometown.”
Hometown brings to mind the likes of Everlast and Beck, melding a hip-hoppy backbeat against a delivery with echoes of Lou Reed. A mid-tempo arrangement allows Blum’s narrative to come to the fore, leaving an infectious, intelligent, and intriguing track — and the latest standout from his album Good Weather, released in October.
Blum is as prolific as he is eclectic, with a myriad of releases dating back to 2016’s Sunday Morning EP. In 2022, he released Speak Dreams To Me, his “fullest rock album” on which he played every instrument (including drums). In 2018, he released Tourmaline (Guitar Instrumentals Vol. 1), with Amethyst (Guitar Instrumentals Vol. 2) coming five years later. Blum also released Acetone-Electro Tape in 2020 and 2023’s Blues Master Does Another Electro Tape. His other albums include 2020’s Rap Beats Vol. 1, while 2022 brought Alex Blum Does Rap Music and Noise Music. Earlier in 2024, he released Abstract Sample-Based Music.
Check out Hometown above, hear more from Alex Blum below, and follow his travels on Facebook and Instagram.
