Z.P. Kunkle and I made a record of narratives together. We share a love for the macabre and folk music.

The first track off the Badlands record is, fittingly, titled Badlands #1. It’s a song of desperation and hopelessness, with no sign of sunnier days on the horizon. Z.P. Kunkle and I recorded it in his living room in a single take to an audience of two dogs.

Badlands #1 (A.S. Coomer)

Despair is a tight rope and when you slip it slits you in two
Leaving one for the highway & one for getting through

Now I live out in the badlands, just my dog & me
It’s only been two summers since Edna left me
Just you wait & just you see
These godforsaken badlands don’t make for such good company

The knife is forthright & it’ll sing when it sinks deep
I feel the winter in my bones; I hope the night, it takes me
Just you wait & just you see
These godforsaken Badlands, well, they’ll be the death of me

You can purchase/stream/download the track (as well as the entire Badlands record) on all the usual places: Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube, etc.

The Badlands record was mixed by Cory Gottron at Sub Par Studios & mastered by Tony Taylor at Rock Haus Studios.

Nod yer heads.

A.S. Coomer

Categories: Anthology, Excerpt, Fiction, Literature, Music, Poetry, Short Story, Songwriting, storyTags: collection, Fiction, folk, Indie, Literary, Literature, Live, Music, Poem, Poetry, record, sale, Short Story, single, story