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Its proof that the bad days do get better / Its proof that love is still alive ...In 2019, Arlo McKinley played a show at the High Watt in Nashville. While he had years of such gigs on the DIY singer-songwriter circuit behind him, this night was different. In the audience was one of his musical heroes, John Prine. When they met briefly beforehand, Prine, who never gave praise lightly, told Arlo he was a fan.McKinley recalls, Just that moment, if thats where it ended, it wouldve been one of the coolest things that ever happened to me, something I remembered forever.But it didnt end there. Shortly after, he was signed to Oh Boy Records, Prines indie label. Arlo came into 2020 with the momentum of a new album on deck - his first with a producer and a street team - and an international tour booked. Then things took a strange turn.Right before the record came out, my mother passed away, he says. She had always supported me and she didnt get to see this stuff happen for me. Then one of my best friends died shortly after. And I lost two other friends to drug addiction. I was trying to navigate through all the emotions of that.And of course, like all musicians that year, he couldnt tour.A soft-spoken introvert whos open about his past drink and drug addictions, McKinley had to look to himself to find comfort. And in the process, he wrote the songs for whats become his latest release, the aptly-titled This Mess Were In.Im kind of private with a lot of things I go through, but in my songs, Im honest about everything, he says with a smile. So I started to write as a way of getting stuff out. To me, this is a growth record. I was navigating through a pretty bad time, but also there was the realization that its time to really change, find a better way of life. My last album was me figuring out whether to stay or go from a very confused spot in my life. This one is trying to better myself - as a musician, as a human being, as a friend.
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