I’m listening to Regaltown USA on top of a hill in Worcester, Massachusetts. Late autumnal browns and oranges color the trees; greyish clouds sit in the sky, the air is crisp and time feels slow. Ryan Rock Egan’s gravelly voice tells a heartfelt story of New England life filled with mild alcoholism and aching heartbreak. Encouraging us small town kids to dream big on a blanket of twangy guitars and tasteful country grooves--Regals is the remedy to our collective restlessness.

I picture myself driving windy roads, smoking cigarettes as the sun sets on the horizon; feeling like no one quite understands me and maybe I like it that way. Regals’ music is saturated with a sense of longing and belonging. Longing for something more, while belonging to something real.

This is American music from the perspective of New England country kids turned local rockstars. This is music to be heard from barstools and transistor radios, music to shout along to in whatever voice you have. Regaltown USA is not about perfectionism, it is about storytelling. So, get in your car or put on your headphones or whatever the fuck you do to listen to music, and try for the next 40 minutes or so, to just let yourself go.

-Griffin B. Temple