Each song brings a true country sound through life’s ups and downs. From a story of romance told with an acoustic guitar to a steel twang in a honky tonk tune, Andrew Beam delivers it all in his new album Selma By Sundown. Featuring the single, “You Should See The Other Guy“, the album shares an inside look into Andrew’s life as a former South Carolina Game Warden turned country singer-songwriter. Each song will take you to a place every country person can enjoy, read on about the sounds of “Beam Country” in this classic country album…
Songs For The Bar & Dance Floor
Track 1, “Country Ain’t Dead” is a boot-stomping statement track opening the album in a traditional sound. “’Country Ain’t Dead’ has always been my catchphrase since doing music full-time in 2018,” tells Andrew.
Track 4, “Might As Well Dance” is one of Andrew’s favorites to play live. It’s an upbeat beachy two-step tune telling the story of a guy who has lost a woman after exhausting all efforts to keep things intact. Another girl walks in as he’s alone at the bar, and with nothing else to lose, he asks her to dance.
Track 6, “The Beam in Me” is a fan favorite as the song for a country boy’s good time on the town.
“Looking for me a country queen who digs my cowboy boots and worn out jeans. A white label and an 80 proof shot, spending every dollar I’ve got. Hitting on every girl I see, I guess that’s just the Beam in me.”
– Andrew Beam
Track 7, “Three Sheets” is a swinging, rock-inspired song depicting a country music “pirate” taking over the industry. The twangy guitar licks and pedal steel take this song from the ocean to the honky-tonk. “I wrote this song on the ocean when I was a game warden. ‘Yo ho yo ho a pirate’s life for me’ was stuck in my head, a wave hit the boat and soaked us, and I immediately thought ‘a honky-tonk is for me.’ When the boat stopped, I grabbed my phone and wrote down the idea,” shares Andrew.
Love Songs
Track 2, “You Should See the Other Guy” shares the honesty of regret in seeing the woman he loves with another guy because he couldn’t be what she needed. “You should see the other guy, he ain’t nothin’ like me, she done found her the kind of man that I couldn’t be,” Andrew sings.
“I did everything wrong, she found Mr. Right. I lay awake at night, ask myself why, why, why? You should see the other guy.”
-Andrew Beam
Track 3, “Selma by Sundown” is the title track to the album and a story of a truck driver returning from a long haul to a loved one. With an added flair to the guitar chords Andrew sings, “I’ll be in Selma by sundown, I’ve been gone too long. I’ll be in Selma by sundown and back to you by dawn.”
Track 5, “Semalee” is a heartfelt love song to one’s significant other eloquently combining all senses through a simple poem and acoustic guitar. “I wrote this song for my girlfriend Katelyn but wanted everyone to feel the words in their own relationships,” shares Andrew.
Down Home Songs
Track 8, “Black and White” in soft guitar chords and vocals, tells a story of longing for people to unite in a divided world through imagining, “If Andy Griffith and Martin Luther King Jr. could get together, they’d make the world right,” says Andrew.
Track 9, “Wadmalaw Saturday Night” turns up the tempo with 90’s country vibes in singing about food and fellowship. The song is an ode to the father of a Game Warden who trained Andrew. “I got to play this for him one time before he lost his battle (with cancer), and no matter where we play today, the crowds point to the sky and cheer,” he shares.
Track 10, “Farmall ’53” hits home for me as a ballad dedicated to farmers and the hardships endured year after year trying to make a living. The song also reflects good times after the harvest and family bonds that have grown from the same soil.
“Farmall ’53, long days in the heat. Thinkin’ bout the way things have been and always will be.”
-Andrew Beam
Track 11, “Cajun Wind” closes out the album with a swampy rocker telling the story of a groom who catches his bride with his best man on their wedding day. He finds them in the swamp together and kills them both. The groom then becomes “Le Feu Follet”- souls that become the mysterious swamp lights in Cajun folklore after they escaped from purgatory.
This album certainly has you covered with songs about having a good ole time, being in love and making the most of this life with a deep appreciation of where we have been to where life takes us. Andrew sings of his personal journey and shares just who his is in every honest lyric to a real country sound all listeners can enjoy.
Download and stream Selma By Sundown where you listen to music now! Andrew shares his life as @beamcountry on Instagram. Follow him for new music releases capturing country at it’s best. “Welcome to Beam Country….Beam like the whiskey, Country like the music,” he says at beamcountry.com.
“I’ll be in Selma by sundown, I’ve been gone too long. I’ll be in Selma by sundown and back to you by dawn.”
-Andrew Beam
Photo Credit to @beamcountry
Farm Girl With Curls 