Songs that are honest and don't try to be anything else have a quiet power. Brian Mullins' new release, "Route 20," is a great example of this. Mullins wrote and produced the song all by himself, and it feels more like a personal reckoning than a performance. It invites listeners to sit with him in a moment that changed his life forever.
Mullins continues to carve out a lane that is deeply personal and unmistakably his own, drawing on his upbringing and recording in his home studio, Hillbilly Records. "Route 20" reflects on losing his grandfather and uncle when he was a kid. That feeling of loss stays with him in every note. Mullins doesn't make the experience more dramatic, instead, he lets the weight of memory speak for itself.
His dedication to telling stories is what stands out the most. There isn't too much production here, and there isn't an effort to smooth out the rough edges. Instead, Mullins embraces a stripped-down authenticity that is becoming increasingly hard to find. The song is like a long drive down familiar roads, where every mile marker brings back a memory you can't shake.
When he sings, it sounds like he's really lived it, not just performed it. This emotional clarity is what makes "Route 20" last. You don't just hear the story, you can feel the passage of time in it.