Ball of Wax 35 Songs: Olie Eshleman – “Baby, I’m Only 4 Area Codes Away”

Corespondents’ Olie Eshleman made his solo guitar-based debut – I think – on Ball of Wax 33 (though you should really check out his sample-based submission to the naughty-language-ridden Vol. 13), and he returns a couple volumes later with a gem of an instrumental love song. “Baby, I’m Only 4 Area Codes Away” deftly employs sweetly melancholy surf guitar and a mechanically shuffling drum beat to evoke that wistful ache of living just a state away from one’s baby. You’re in a roadhouse, drowning your tears in your beer. The band in the corner with the Silvertone guitars and the cocktail kit might have it worse than you, but they’re channeling those blues into this sweet soundtrack to your misery.