Ball of Wax 49 Songs: James Kelly Pitts – “Right Foot Blue”

“Right Foot Blue” is newish BoW regular James Kelly Pitts’s third appearance in these parts. I’ve admired his approach to songwriting and production since receiving his first submission, “Night Shift,” but two adjectives that I haven’t previously connected to his work are smooth and pretty. That said, “Right Foot Blue” is undoubtedly a smooth, pretty piece of music. The steadily chugging acoustic guitar, tinkling Omnichord, and syncopated group hand-claps provide the perfect bed for James’s hushed vocals. The chorus “My my, such a beautiful sky tonight,” is straightforward, yet open to interpretation. Is it a simple appreciation of a moment of beauty, or a statement of environmental dread? (The skies sure were pretty during our recent smoke-choked weeks here in Seattle.) And then, that sax solo! I feel like people are putting sax solos in their music again these days as a lazy way of saying “hey, this is a fun ’80s inspired song, so here’s the sax solo,” but this is not that. This is actually a nicely crafted musical statement that fits beautifully in this charming little tune. As always, I look forward to hearing more from James soon.