Splintered from the foundations of John Prine, the Rolling Stones, and Jerry Jeff Walker, Mac Leaphart is an artist who puts the song first. He’s filled his career with a mix of hook-heavy roots music, honky-tonk rock & roll, and salty, sharply-detailed songwriting. It’s a sound that finds the Nashville-based troubadour nodding to those who’ve come before him while also pushing forward into uncharted territory, earning support from a cross-country spread of folk fans and Americana audiences along the way.
Leaphart’s latest release, Motel Breakfast, is an album for roadhouses, dive bars, and half-lit crowds who want to have a good time but also want to listen. If the bulk of the album conjures up images of Leaphart and company onstage, sweating their way through a rough-and-tumble set of American roots music, then the record’s title track takes place the morning after the gig. It’s the sort of morning that road-worn musicians know all too well, where the thrills of last night’s show have all faded away, and all that’s standing between you and another five-hour drive is a free motel breakfast.
Genuine to a fault and intentionally rough around the edges, Mac Leaphart’s songs are both witty & poignant, often within the confines of the same song. Leaphart has a rare ability to craft relatable tales with a unique spin, mostly free of Cliches.
Leaphart’s 2024 release, Motel Breakfast, is an album for roadhouses, dive bars, and half-lit crowds who want to have a good time but also want to listen. If the bulk of the album conjures up images of Leaphart and company onstage, sweating their way through a rough-and-tumble set of American roots music, then the record’s title track takes place the morning after the gig. It’s the sort of morning that road-worn musicians know all too well, where the thrills of last night’s show have all faded away, and all that’s standing between you and another five-hour drive is a free hotel breakfast. “Motel Breakfast” finds its narrator asking himself some hard questions, wondering if all those highway miles have really added up to anything. He ultimately rededicates himself to the long haul. “They got waffles in the lobby shaped just like Texas / Life is good, let’s go get some breakfast,” Leaphart sings, delivering one of the best couplets in his entire catalog before leading the band through one last chorus.
There are more miles ahead. More songs to sing. More hotel meals to eat. Mac Leaphart has been there before, and he’s not pumping the brakes anytime soon. As he sings in Motel Breakfast’s title track, “It’s a long hard road, but it’s a good long ride.”