Singled Out: The Stone Chiefs' Vices

I've always been a fan of traditional, down on your luck, country music songs. I guess "Vices" was my attempt to recreate that sort of vibe. I wrote this song in my old apartment, shortly after moving in. At this point in my life, I was living on my own for the first time in my life, which obviously provided me with a lot of extra alone time to be creative. By creative, I mean drunk and bored as hell. Honestly, I didn't WRITE Vices so much as I found it midway through a bottle of whiskey. Remember how I said I was trying to recreate the feel of an old, haggard country song? The Whiskey helped.

The song basically tells a story of a guy who's been done wrong by his woman, decides to give himself a break, a drink, and a couple extra days to collect himself. Slippery slopes for slippery folks... His long weekend turns into a full on bender, with no light at the end of the tunnel. Grim, of course, but I think it's pretty universal and relatable. Contrary to popular belief, the song is about no one in particular, just a sort of idea that stuck to the wall. A couple weeks later, I brought it to the band, which helped me (as always) shape it, tinker with it, and turn it into a proper song.

Moral of the story...booze helps you write songs.